Teeny, tiny refrigerators

A team of scientists at the University of California has managed to crack the process of making microscopic cooling units for computing-on-a-chip applications. Heat build up is the next big stumbling block in miniaturising electronics, and

A team of scientists at the University of California has managed to crack the process of making microscopic cooling units for computing-on-a-chip applications. Heat build up is the next big stumbling block in miniaturising electronics, and 'microcoolers' like these, which can form a super-thin cooling layer without the bulkiness of modern cooling measures could herald the next step in tiny-town computing.

The cooling units, each the sign of a grain of duct and made of a composite of silicon, germanium (the element, not the flower) and carbon, are placed in 200 alternating layers of two semiconductors atop one another. Even more impressive is the fact that the cooling layer can be built right onto a chip.

The small size also allows cooling to be placed directly on high-wear chip hotspots. Currently the coolers can drop a chip running at 100 degrees celsius by around seven degrees - this isn't a commercial success yet, but the technology will improve.

All we need now are really small bottles of beer to go with our super small coolers, and the computing experience will be complete.