Patents by Inventor Herman Oprins

Herman Oprins has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 12342503
    Abstract: A cooling device configured to be mounted in close proximity to an electronic component that is to be cooled is provided. In one aspect, the device includes impingement channels and return channels for guiding a flow of cooling fluid towards and away from a cooled surface of the electronic component. The device also includes a heat exchanger and a pump, so that the flow cycle of a cooling fluid is fully confined within the device itself. The impingement channels, the return channels, and the heat exchanger are integrated in a common housing, which includes an inlet opening and an outlet opening for coupling the device to a refrigerant loop. The pump may be a micropump mounted directly on the housing and coupled to the inlet and outlet openings in the housing. A cooling system including the device and the refrigerant loop is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2023
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2025
    Assignee: IMEC vzw
    Inventors: Vladimir Cherman, Herman Oprins, Eric Beyne
  • Publication number: 20240213120
    Abstract: A micro-electronic component, for example an integrated circuit chip, is provided. In one aspect, the component includes a front-end-of-line (FEOL) portion and a back-end-of-line (BEOL) portion at its front side. A back side power delivery network (PDN) is present at the back side of the component, with via connections connecting the PDN to the FEOL and BEOL portions. The back side PDN includes a “dry part” and a “wet part,” where the dry part includes multiple interconnect levels of the PDN embedded in a dielectric material. The “wet part” includes the remaining PDN levels which are not embedded in a dielectric but which are part of a manifold structure configured to receive therein a flow of cooling fluid in order to remove heat generated by the devices in the FEOL portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2023
    Publication date: June 27, 2024
    Inventors: Herman Oprins, Geert Van der Plas, Eric Beyne, Pieter Woeltgens
  • Publication number: 20240121914
    Abstract: A cooling device configured to be mounted in close proximity to an electronic component that is to be cooled is provided. In one aspect, the device includes impingement channels and return channels for guiding a flow of cooling fluid towards and away from a cooled surface of the electronic component. The device also includes a heat exchanger and a pump, so that the flow cycle of a cooling fluid is fully confined within the device itself. The impingement channels, the return channels, and the heat exchanger are integrated in a common housing, which includes an inlet opening and an outlet opening for coupling the device to a refrigerant loop. The pump may be a micropump mounted directly on the housing and coupled to the inlet and outlet openings in the housing. A cooling system including the device and the refrigerant loop is also provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 3, 2023
    Publication date: April 11, 2024
    Inventors: Vladimir Cherman, Herman Oprins, Eric Beyne
  • Patent number: 10334755
    Abstract: A liquid cooling system for cooling an electronic device comprising a chip or a chip package comprising a chip is described. The liquid cooling system comprises an inlet plenum comprising a coolant feeding channel oriented substantially parallel with the plane of a main surface to be cooled of the chip and a plurality of inlet cooling channels fluidically connected to the coolant feeding channel and arranged vertically for impinging a liquid coolant directly on said main surface of the chip. The vertically oriented inlet cooling channels are substantially parallel to vertically oriented outlet cooling channels and are separated by a thermally isolating material. The liquid cooling system further comprises at least one cavity wherein a plurality of inlet and outlet cooling channels end. The cavity is arranged for allowing interaction between the liquid coolant and the main surface of the chip and thus comprises a heat transfer region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2019
    Assignee: IMEC VZW
    Inventors: Herman Oprins, Vladimir Cherman, Eric Beyne
  • Publication number: 20170196120
    Abstract: A liquid cooling system for cooling an electronic device comprising a chip or a chip package comprising a chip is described. The liquid cooling system comprises an inlet plenum comprising a coolant feeding channel oriented substantially parallel with the plane of a main surface to be cooled of the chip and a plurality of inlet cooling channels fluidically connected to the coolant feeding channel and arranged vertically for impinging a liquid coolant directly on said main surface of the chip. The vertically oriented inlet cooling channels are substantially parallel to vertically oriented outlet cooling channels and are separated by a thermally isolating material. The liquid cooling system further comprises at least one cavity wherein a plurality of inlet and outlet cooling channels end. The cavity is arranged for allowing interaction between the liquid coolant and the main surface of the chip and thus comprises a heat transfer region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2016
    Publication date: July 6, 2017
    Inventors: Herman Oprins, Vladimir Cherman, Eric Beyne
  • Patent number: 8493736
    Abstract: The present disclosure is related to a device for cooling the surface of a semiconductor device such as an integrated circuit or the like, the cooling device comprising a plurality of channels (3?) which are non-parallel to the surface to be cooled, each channel comprising a plurality of separate electrodes (5) or equivalent conducting areas arranged along the length of each channel, the device further comprising or being connectable to means for applying a voltage to the electrodes or conducting areas in each channel according to a sequence, the sequence being such that a droplet (6) of cooling liquid in a channel may be moved from one electrode to the next, thereby transporting the droplet from the top of the channel to the bottom, from where the droplet impinges on the surface to be cooled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2013
    Assignee: IMEC
    Inventors: Herman Oprins, Bart Vandevelde, Paolo Fiorini, Eric Beyne, Joeri De Vos, Bivragh Majeed
  • Publication number: 20110304987
    Abstract: The present disclosure is related to a device for cooling the surface of a semiconductor device such as an integrated circuit or the like, the cooling device comprising a plurality of channels (3?) which are non-parallel to the surface to be cooled, each channel comprising a plurality of separate electrodes (5) or equivalent conducting areas arranged along the length of each channel, the device further comprising or being connectable to means for applying a voltage to the electrodes or conducting areas in each channel according to a sequence, the sequence being such that a droplet (6) of cooling liquid in a channel may be moved from one electrode to the next, thereby transporting the droplet from the top of the channel to the bottom, from where the droplet impinges on the surface to be cooled.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2011
    Publication date: December 15, 2011
    Applicant: IMEC
    Inventors: Herman Oprins, Bart Vandevelde, Paolo Fiorini, Eric Beyne, Joeri De Vos, Bivragh Majeed