Light can provide an energy-saving training method for smart IT systems.
Now, a Minneapolis-based startup has shown how it can also cool high-performance data centres and AI systems.
The team’s cold plate for processors contains layers of gallium arsenide. In pure and crystalline form, this semiconductor material cools down when stimulated by a laser-light pulse.
More than that, the patented design identifies where processors are hottest and targets these sites specifically for cooling. Which in turn leads to increased processing speed and higher performance.
Any heat discharged from the processor can be reused and converted into light – for solar panels, say.
Elsewhere, IT systems are already heating swimming pools, while thanks to laser light, security tags no longer require electronics.
