Patent ID: 7532476

Claim:
A microelectronic cooling apparatus comprising: one or more heat sink base(s) to thermally couple with one or more microelectronic device(s); a primary plurality of fins thermally coupled with the one or more heat sink base(s); a first pathway for a fluid to flow across at least one or more fin(s) of the primary plurality of fins defining a first set of fin(s) to remove heat from the first set of fin(s); and a second pathway for the fluid to flow across at least one or more fin(s) of the primary plurality that are not included in the first set of fin(s), defining a second set of fin(s), in a direction substantially opposite the direction of the fluid flow in the first pathway to remove heat from the second set of fin(s); a first heat pipe thermally coupled with a first heat sink base, the first heat sink base to thermally couple with a first microelectronic device; one or more fin(s) of a secondary plurality of fins defining a third set of fins, the third set of fins thermally coupled with the first heat pipe in an arrangement that allows the fluid of the first pathway to flow across the third set of fins to remove heat from the third set of fins; a second heat pipe thermally coupled with a second heat sink base, the second heat sink base to thermally couple with a second microelectronic device; and one or more fin(s) of the secondary plurality of fins that are not included in the third set of fins defining a fourth set of fins, the fourth set of fins thermally coupled with the second heat pipe in an arrangement that allows the fluid of the second pathway to flow across the fourth set of fins to remove heat from the fourth set of fins.