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When considering a termination with conduction cooling, there are certain factors that must be considered:

• What is the impact on other components in the system?
• Will the heat from the load and the heat sink (or cold plate as the heat sink is sometimes referred to) impact other com ponents in the system?
• Will the air-flow required for the heat sink impact any com ponents that also require air-flow? Is there enough air flow for the dissipation through the heat sink?
• What changes might I see in the system due to the additional heating effect; such as overheating of components or wiring?

Conduction is heat transfer by means of molecular agitation within a material without any motion of the material as a whole. It is heat transfer by mass motion of a fluid such as air or water and when the heated fluid is caused to move away from the source of heat, carrying energy with it.

Heat transfer will use the lowest energy mode available. Typically this lowest energy method is a flow of heat in a direction opposite to the thermal gradient. In other words, the heat will flow from the highest temperature region to the lowest temperature region until the lower temperature region attains the same temperature as the host.

Although a conductive load is considered a passive-cooling device, by using a fan along with the heat sink, it becomes an active-cooling device which allows more cooling with less space.

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•Application Note: Understanding Conduction Cooled Loads