Two-stage multichannel liquid–metal cooling system for thermal management of high-heat-flux-density chip array

A two-stage multichannel liquid–metal cooling system for a high-heat-flux-density chip array is investigated in this study. This system exhibits high cooling performance, low cost, excellent temperature uniformity, and high reliability. The first stage, which comprises a multichannel liquid metal convection subsystem, is implemented in the high-heat-flux-density chip area to achieve high cooling performance. The second stage, which comprises a water convection subsystem, is utilized in the low-heat-flux-density area to effectively reduce the system cost. Because the liquid–metal loops are equipped with independent electromagnetic pumps for each chip, the chip temperature can be conveniently adjusted, thereby guaranteeing good temperature uniformity. The experimental results show that the proposed liquid–metal cooling system can accommodate a heat flux of 50–200 W/cm² with a convective heat transfer coefficient exceeding 20 000 W/(m²·K). Moreover, the flow of liquid metal can be continuously adjusted by varying the input current of the electromagnetic pump to ensure a chip array temperature uniformity of approximately 1 °C. The proposed liquid–metal cooling system can serve as a high-performance solution for the thermal management of high-heat-flux-density chip arrays in data centers.