Through the nanograss

Lucent Technologies

’ Bell Labs today announced the launch of a new research project that aims to use nano-textured surfaces to solve the extreme thermal management challenges of advanced electronic and photonic systems.

The team will be headed by researchers from Bell Labs’ new research laboratory in Blanchardstown, Dublin. In collaboration with three Irish universities and Bell Labs researchers in Murray Hill, New Jersey, the researchers will use “nanograss”, a Bell Labs-engineered surface that contains billions of tiny silicon posts, to study the effectiveness of transferring heat from silicon surfaces to liquid coolants.

The results from these experiments could lead to important breakthroughs in cost-effective communications devices and networks. Higher processing speeds from liquid-cooled devices will support more densely packed circuits in communication devices, which could allow communication service providers to operate lower-cost broadband services.

“Nanograss”, discovered by Bell Labs researchers last year, provides a method to control the behaviour of tiny drops of liquid using silicon surfaces that resemble a lawn of evenly cut grass with “blades” that are each only a few nanometres in size.