Impact of Immersion Cooling on Thermomechanical Properties of Halogen-Free Substrate Core

Abstract

The data center's server power density and heat generation have increased exponentially because of the recent, unparalleled rise in the processing and storing of massive amounts of data on a regular basis. One-third of the overall energy used in conventional air-cooled data centers is directed toward cooling information technology equipment (ITE). The traditional air-cooled data centers must have low air supply temperatures and high air flow rates to support high-performance servers, rendering air cooling inefficient and compelling data center operators to use alternative cooling technology. Due to the direct interaction of dielectric fluids with all the components in the server, single-phase liquid immersion cooling addresses mentioned problems by offering a significantly greater thermal mass and a high percentage of heat dissipation. Single-phase liquid immersion cooling is a viable option for hyperscale, edge, and modular data center applications because, unlike direct-to-chip liquid cooling, it does not call for a complex liquid distribution system configuration and the dielectric liquid can make direct contact with all server components. Immersion cooling is superior to conventional air-cooling technology in terms of thermal energy management; however, there have been very few studies on the reliability of such cooling technology. A detailed assessment of the material compatibility of different electronic packaging materials for immersion cooling was required to comprehend their failure modes and reliability. For the mechanical design of electronics, the modulus and glass transition temperature (Tg) are essential material characteristics. The substrate is a crucial element of an electronic package that has a significant impact on the reliability and failure mechanisms of electronics at both the package and the board level. As per Open Compute Project (OCP) design guidelines for immersion-cooled IT equipment, the traditional material compatibility tests from standards like ASTM 3455 can be used with certain appropriate adjustments. The primary focus of this research is to address two challenges: The first part is to understand the impact of thermal aging on the thermomechanical properties of the halogen-free substrate core in the single-phase immersion cooling. Another goal of the study is to comprehend how thermal aging affects the thermomechanical characteristics of the substrate core in the air. In this research, the substrate core is aged in synthetic hydrocarbon fluid (EC110), polyalphaolefin 6 (PAO 6), and ambient air for 720 h each at two different temperatures: 85 °C and 125 °C, and the complex modulus and the glass transition temperature before and after aging are calculated and compared.