Diamond Heat Sink: A Revolutionary Breakthrough in GPU Thermal Management Technology

In an era of rapid development in artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and graphics rendering, the power consumption and heat generation of GPUs have emerged as one of the major bottlenecks restricting the improvement of computing performance. With the continuous miniaturization of manufacturing processes and the steady increase in transistor density, the heat flux density of GPUs has approached the limits of traditional thermal management technologies. Against this backdrop, diamond heat sinks, as an emerging thermal solution, are spearheading a revolutionary transformation in the GPU thermal management field with their exceptional physical properties.

Traditional thermal management solutions, including copper heat sinks, heat pipes, and vapor chamber technologies, have become quite mature after years of optimization, but the thermal conductivity of their base materials is already close to physical limits. The thermal conductivity of pure copper at room temperature is approximately 400 W/(m·K), while that of copper alloys used in practical applications usually ranges from 200 to 350 W/(m·K). When confronted with GPU hotspot areas where heat flux density exceeds 200 W/cm², the heat dissipation capacity of these materials proves insufficient.

The advancement of Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) technology has enabled the fabrication of large-area, high-quality synthetic diamond films. The CVD diamond growth process involves the decomposition of carbon-containing gases (such as methane) at high temperatures to deposit a diamond thin film on a substrate, which can then be separated and polished to obtain free-standing diamond plates.

Currently, the thermal conductivity of CVD diamond can reach 1500–1800 W/(m·K), with thickness controllable between 100–500 microns and size up to several inches in diameter, fully meeting the thermal dissipation requirements of GPU chips.

Direct Die-Attached Heat SinkMount diamond heat sinks directly on top of GPU chips as the primary thermal interface, replacing traditional copper or aluminum heat sinks. This solution can significantly reduce the thermal resistance from the chip to the heat spreader, and is particularly suitable for heat diffusion in hotspot areas. The key technical challenges lie in the selection of interface materials between diamond and the chip and the optimization of bonding processes.

Selective Embedded IntegrationEmbed small diamond plates into packaging substrates or silicon interposers for specific high-power-density areas in GPUs (such as shader core clusters) to achieve directional and high-efficiency heat dissipation. This selective application maximizes heat dissipation performance while controlling costs.

Composite Structure CoatingDeposit diamond thin films on the surface of traditional heat dissipation materials (such as copper and silicon carbide) to form composite structures, which combine high thermal conductivity with excellent machinability. Diamond-copper composite materials have demonstrated outstanding thermal management performance, and their coefficient of thermal expansion can be optimized by adjusting the component ratio.

3D Stacked Packaging Thermal InterfaceInterlayer heat dissipation is a major challenge in 3D stacked packaging. Diamond thin films can serve as interlayer heat spreaders to rapidly conduct heat out of the stacked structure. Studies have shown that coating diamond materials around Through-Silicon Vias (TSVs) can significantly enhance vertical heat conduction efficiency.

Experimental studies have validated the exceptional performance of diamond heat sinks in GPU thermal management. A thermal test conducted on high-performance GPUs showed that, compared with traditional copper heat dissipation solutions:

GPU hotspot temperature is reduced by 15–25°C

Thermal throttling rate is decreased by more than 60%

Sustained high-load performance is improved by 8–12%

Temperature uniformity is enhanced by 30%

Practical Application Scenarios

In practical applications, diamond heat sinks are particularly suitable for:

Data center GPUs: Long-term high-load operation with continuous heat dissipation demands

Workstation and professional rendering cards: Requirements for high computing density and stability

AI training chips: Concentrated heat sources generated by large-scale matrix operations

Overclocked gaming graphics cards: Thermal management under extreme performance requirements

With their superior thermophysical properties, diamond heat sinks provide a solution that breaks through the limits of traditional materials for GPU thermal management. Against the backdrop of ever-growing computing power demands and increasingly critical thermal management needs, diamond-based thermal technologies are not only a key driving force for performance improvement but also the cornerstone for the reliable operation of future high-density electronic systems. As interdisciplinary research continues to deepen, the integration of diamond heat sinks with new cooling technologies is expected to completely reshape the landscape of GPU thermal management, providing a sustainable thermal solution for next-generation high-performance computing systems.

CSMH uses the MPCVD method to prepare large-sized and high-quality diamonds,and currently has mature products such as diamond heat sinks, diamond wafers, diamond windows,diamond composite materials,etc.Among them,the thermal conductivity of diamond heat sinks is 1000-2200w/（m.k）, which has been applied in aerospace, high-power semiconductor lasers, optical communication, chip heat dissipation, nuclear fusion and other fields.