‘Reverse trick’ for LEDs could keep future computers cool

In a finding that runs counter to a common assumption in physics, researchers ran a light emitting diode (LED) with electrodes reversed in order to cool another device mere nanometers away.

The approach could lead to new solid-state cooling technology for future microprocessors, which will have so many transistors packed into a small space that current methods can’t remove heat quickly enough. “We have demonstrated a second method for using photons to cool devices,” says Pramod Reddy, who co-led the work with Edgar Meyhofer, both professors of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan.