Patent ID: 7523617

Claim:
A structure for controlling a temperature of a heat generating device in a solid medium, comprising: at least one heat extraction device configured to be thermally coupled to the medium; a heat sink thermally coupled to the heat extraction device and configured to dissipate heat from the heat extraction device into an environment apart from the medium; and a first thermal interface material configured to thermally couple the heat sink to the solid medium wherein the thermal interface material is between the heat sink and the solid medium and wherein the thermal interface material and the heat extraction device are thermally coupled in parallel between the heat sink and the solid medium; wherein a first thermal conductance K 1 including a thermal conductance of the first thermal interface material for a region extending no more than a width of the heat extraction device from a side of the heat extraction device is less than a second thermal conductance K 2 between a base of the heat extraction device against the heat sink and the heat sink.