Synthetic Diamond and High-Density Computing

What this topic covers

Why advanced thermal materials are relevant to servers, accelerators and communications hardware.

Core engineering ideas

High-density computing increases power per package and per rack.

Diamond is a niche thermal material for the most demanding semiconductor hot spots rather than a general replacement for copper or aluminum cooling hardware.

System efficiency still depends on package, cold plate, airflow or liquid cooling, power conversion and facility design.

System tradeoffs

Synthetic plates and films are specified by thermal performance, dimensions, flatness, defect level and integration method.

Quality and verification

Package-level testing is more meaningful than quoting an ideal bulk conductivity number by itself.

Lifecycle perspective

Diamond competes with copper, ceramics, silicon carbide and other thermal materials on cost, electrical behaviour, density and manufacturability.