14-04-2025
US scientists toy with lasers to cool computer chips, bring down data center costs
A high amount of the energy used by data centers is for cooling purposes.
Data centers handle everything from basic tasks like email processing to complex operations like AI training. However, these systems face a major challenge with the heat generated by the servers.
The current air and water-based cooling systems are struggling to keep up.
As Sandia National Laboratories physicist Raktim Sarma explains, "About 30 to 40 percent of the energy data centers use is spent on cooling. In some communities, the amount of water needed can strain local resources."
Now, a Minnesota-based startup, Maxwell Labs, is teaming up with Sandia and the University of New Mexico to explore laser-based photonic cooling.
This new technology seeks to control computer chip temperatures, lower energy use, and improve efficiency compared to current methods.
'A successful project will not only address the immediate need for energy savings but also pave the way for processors to operate at performance levels that were previously thought impossible,' said Mike Karpe, Maxwell Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer.
Photonics, the science of harnessing light, is already being used for data processing, national security, and communication. But the team at Sandia and Maxwell says they are the first to explore its potential for cooling computers.
Despite their common use for heating, lasers can also produce a cooling effect in specific situations.
This happens when a precise light frequency interacts with a highly pure target of a specific element. The team describes it as using lasers to hold individual atoms at incredibly low temperatures in quantum computers.
The laser cooling method might work for GPUs if the cooling light targets small, hot areas.
'We really only have to cool down spots that are on the order of hundreds of microns, about the size of a speck of dust,' Sarma noted.
Maxwell Labs envisions a photonic cold plate, a light-based alternative or complement to existing water and air cooling systems.
A key element in cold plate design is gallium arsenide, a semiconductor similar to silicon. For the laser cooling to work effectively, the gallium arsenide needs to be incredibly pure and grown in extremely thin, crystalline layers known as epitaxial layers.
This innovative design utilizes materials and microscopic features, thousands of times smaller than a human hair. The technique allows to channel cooling laser light directly to those critical hot spots.
According to the company's models, laser cooling can achieve lower chip temperatures than water cooling.
'This will enable novel energy-recovery paradigms not possible with traditional cooling technology,' said Maxwell CEO Jacob Balma.
If successful, this technology could unlock significant benefits. Cooler chips can operate at higher speeds without overheating, leading to improved performance and greater power efficiency.
Furthermore, it might be possible to recapture the light generated as heat and transform it back into electrical power.
The bright idea of using lasers to cool computers might just be the key to unlocking the next generation of high-performance, energy-conscious computing.
