There are many ways to cool a chip, but the most common technique involves a heatsink and some number of fans. In recent years, startup company Frore Systems introduced a “solid-state” cooler called AirJet, which facilitates active cooling without the use of fans, a component that usually has a limited operation life. The original model was aimed for low-power laptops, but the new variant now comes with ingress protection for smartphone uses.
AirJet Sport: Regular AirJet + IP68
So how does AirJet work to cool the chip active without using fans? It uses vibration – specifically, ultrasonic vibration on the tiny membranes create a powerful suction effect that pulls air into the thin inlet vents on top of the chip. This high pressure breaks the boundary layer which increases cooling efficiency, similar to how microfins in AIO pumps are designed (which uses turbulence to break the layer). In fluid dynamics, boundary layer is a layer of air or liquid that tend to flow slower than free-flowing fluids as it sticks to a surface, and this is typically bad for heat transfer.
The AirJet Sport works on the same principle, though it adds IP68 ingress protection, making it suitable for smartphones and action cameras that can submerge in liquids with 1.5m of depth for 30 minutes. This enables these devices to “achieve a performance boost of up to 80% while remaining waterproof and dustproof, and without having to compromise on the small form factor users love,” Frore System noted.
Another benefit of the AirJet is low noise and small footprint. It’s capable of cooling up to 5.25W per module (a typical smartphone SoC uses 5-10W) while using 1W of power to operate. It’s footprint of 41.5 x 27.5 x 2.5mm allows it to be fit within the tight constraints of a smartphone chassis, though the 2.5mm thickness does introduce a small tradeoff – Frore Systems says this will result in a bigger camera bump to accommodate the AirJet module, which will sit next to the camera module that often is thicker than the chassis itself.
Source: PCMag
Pokdepinion: While AirJet easily fits within laptops, fitting this within a smartphone is going to be a challenge.
