Nextreme Thermal Solutions has demonstrated the cooling of a laser diode in a TO-8 package using an embedded thin-film thermoelectric OptoCooler HV14 module. Cooling the laser improves the output performance and reliability of the device. To illustrate the benefits for cooling a laser with an embedded thermoelectric cooler (TEC), Nextreme mounted a laser diode on the active … [Read more...]
The Better Box Model
Introduction For the consumer, natural convection cooling or fan-less cooling is the method of choice. It is silent, it is reliable, it is simple, and it is environmentally sound because no additional energy is used to remove the excess heat. For the thermal engineer, fan-less cooling is more problematic. On the plus side, no fan is needed, so there is an attractive cost … [Read more...]
Direct Spray Cooling and System-level Comparisons
Introduction As power densities of embedded electronics increase, cooling becomes a challenge especially in harsh environments. Liquid cooling is accepted as an attractive cooling method for an increasing number of applications. Direct spray is a particularly efficient form of liquid cooling that has recently been included on several manned and unmanned military platforms. This … [Read more...]
Change and Communication
We live in an age of change. Of course this is not new, the history of the human race has been one of change and adaptation throughout the ages. However, it seems that never before has the pace of change been so swift. Throughout the ages, this has been especially true with regards to how we communicate with each other. Our earliest ancestors on the savannas of Africa, in the … [Read more...]
LED Thermal Standardization: A Hot Topic
Introduction The main topic of the article is how to cope with the increasing need for standardization of thermal characterization of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) and LED-based products (see Fig.1 showing a typical LED package). The LED-business is growing much faster than analysts predicted five years ago. Unfortunately, the progress in thermal characterization has not kept … [Read more...]
