Heat pipe cooling for semiconductor device packaging system

DETAILED DESCRIPTION This invention improves the prior art by the provision of a cooling frame or supporting carrier for a plurality of the heat pipes attached thereto and spanning the space within the frame.
A plurality of sub-islands are attached to the cooling frame to form an island.
Each sub-island comprises a printed circuit (p.
c.
) board of the conventional type on which are mounted a plurality of connectors in parallel relationship and electrically connected to interconnect circuitry leads printed on the circuit board.
The sub-island circuit board is also provided with a plurality of p.
c.
board heat sinks in the form of metallic strips, also spaced apart in parallel relationship abutting the ends of the connectors.
These p.
c.
board heat sinks are also provided with a plurality of uprights or posts also spaced apart a distance sufficient to accomodate the integrally formed heat sinks of individual integrated circuit (I.
C.
) packages.
These posts cooperate with a plurality of hold down pressure clamps for clamping the I.
C.
packages into the connectors for the dual purpose of providing an electrical connection to the connector and to clamp the heat sink plates of the I.
C.
packages to the printed circuit board heat sinks.
These posts also function to aid in the clamping of the sub-islands together by cooperating with a heat pipe hold down clamp by which each sub-island is clamped to the cooling frame heat pipes both mechanically and thermally to maximize the heat transfer between the I.
C.
packages and the heat pipes.
Utilization of heat pipes as part of the supporting carrier or frame provides a minimum temperature differential across the entire island and maintains the I.
C.
packages at a uniformly low temperature to maximize their operations.
The condenser end of the heat pipes is arranged so that the cooling fins thereof extend outside the frame and into a plenum chamber through which ambient air is circulated.
As will be clear from a more detailed description in the description of the preferred embodiment, each sub-island is modular in that any selected sub-island can be connected or disconnected from the frame as a unit since the hold down pressure clamps hold the I