Lead: What are the manufacturing characteristics of microchannel liquid cooling plates? What hurdles must be overcome to transition from validation to mass production?

NVIDIA is upgrading the thermal management system for its next-generation Vera Rubin architecture AI servers, slated for launch in 2026—not only by tasking suppliers with developing a new type of “microchannel l

iquid cooling plate (MLCP)” but also by retaking procurement rights for critical components. How critical is the upgrade of thermal management technology for AI servers?

In reality, the maximum heat dissipation capacity of single-phase cold plates in current servers is approximately 1,500W, which falls short of meeting the thermal demands of the Rubin series compute chips. Under the Vera Rubin architecture, NVIDIA faces a triple pressure: high-density computing design, extremely limited physical installation space, and ultra-high power consumption of racks (often exceeding 100kW).

This is one key reason why NVIDIA has had to deeply involve itself in supply chain management to ensure uncompromised reliability of critical components. Given the importance of thermal management for AI servers, what technology can best guarantee cooling effectiveness? What exactly is NVIDIA’s specified microchannel liquid cooling plate solution, and where lies the challenge to mass production?

 Soaring Value of Liquid Cooling Thermal Management

In 2024, the global data center liquid cooling market grew by 96%, with its size exceeding $1.9 billion; during the same period, the liquid cooling market size of China's intelligent computing centers reached 18.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 66%, and is projected to further reach 130 billion yuan by 2029.

According to public information, the total value of liquid cooling components in NVIDIA's next-generation AI servers approaches 400,000 RMB. The value of thermal components in GB300 rack-level AI systems has already reached nearly 50,000,anincreaseofabout2055,000—its added value rising in tandem with the surge in computing power.

 Who Are the Players in Microchannel Liquid Cooling Plates?

Currently, the AI server liquid cooling market is divided into two main categories: cold plate liquid cooling and immersion liquid cooling. Among these, cold plate liquid cooling has become the mainstream choice for large-scale deployment at present, thanks to its high compatibility with existing server architectures, relatively low retrofitting costs, and ease of maintenance.

Unlike the above two types, the microchannel liquid cooling plate places a highly dense network of micro-scale coolant channels directly beneath or within the cold plate substrate, in direct contact with high-power chips. Its “microchannel” design features channel widths ranging from tens to hundreds of micrometers. Through fine internal flow paths, it maximizes heat exchange between the coolant and the heat source, with a unit price 3–5 times that of existing thermal solutions.

The value of microchannel liquid cooling plates has doubled even before mass production—why is the market willing to pay for it?

Micron-Scale Channels: No Small Challenge

Microchannel liquid cooling plates are made of metals (such as copper and aluminum) via precision processing technologies, with core processing features including:

Complex internal cavity structure: The interior consists of a complex network of dozens to hundreds of fine flow paths with widths of just 0.1mm–0.5mm, offering thermal efficiency far exceeding traditional solutions (with thermal resistance as low as 0.015°C/W).

1. High-precision requirements: The width, depth, spacing, and roughness of the flow paths, as well as overall flatness and parallelism, have extremely tight tolerance requirements (typically within ±0.01mm). Moreover, the microchannel width is only 50–150μm (about 1/10 that of traditional flow paths).

2. Sealing integrity is critical: The cooling plate must withstand long-term water pressure and thermal cycling, and the integrity of its flow paths and the quality of welds or brazing must be free of any defects.

The precision manufacturing of microchannel liquid cooling plates poses stringent challenges for subsequent inspection technologies. Verifying the quality of these micron-scale structures has thus become a critical link in the production process and a key approach to overcoming mass production bottlenecks for this component.

Currently, microchannel liquid cooling plates are in the front-end validation phase—precisely why they need direct contact with chips—and face challenges in controlling liquid leakage, production yield, and reliability:

1. Controlling liquid leakage: Due to direct contact with chips, a single leak could destroy a server worth hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Over years of service life, the integrity of seals and materials is critical.

2. Ensuring production yield and reliability: MLCPs require forming microchannels on a copper heat spreader via an etching process, placing extremely high demands on precision processing techniques. Achieving high and stable yields in mass production is a significant challenge.

Based on structural and performance requirements, microchannel liquid cooling plates require full inspection of macro dimensions (e.g., installation hole positions, overall flatness), micro dimensions (flow path cross-sections), and internal defects such as tiny pores, burrs, and cracks. This must balance ensuring micron-level precision with meeting production throughput.

Otherwise, if 100% compliance is not achieved during testing, these hard-to-detect points will later become a “time bomb” for server operation.

Inspection Solutions from Leading Enterprises

To enable high-quality application of microchannel liquid cooling plates, comprehensive inspection of their special structure is required. However, due to the complex structure of this component, achieving 100% inspection is not easy.

ZEISS METROTOM’s high-resolution non-destructive scanning technology can accurately identify the location and degree of bending in internal fins, avoiding hidden risks missed by conventional inspections.

Meanwhile, for potential microchannel blockage issues, METROTOM enables higher magnification to obtain higher-resolution images, clearly capturing potential quality problems. For critical flow path cross-sections, ZEISS’s ATOS and GOM series 3D scanning solutions can also perform high-precision 3D dimensional measurements, enabling further analysis of surface roughness, micro-geometry, and more inside the flow paths.

Hexagon’s Super Volume 225 high-precision metrology CT inspection solution can efficiently complete high-precision analysis of large surfaces of cooling plates. Without damaging the product, it conducts full external inspection of internal defects and complex structural parts, achieving comprehensive inspection from exterior to interior. Widely used in internal structure inspection of electronic packaging, complex automotive injection-molded parts, etc., its technical application logic can be directly transferred to the inspection of microchannel liquid cooling plates.

At next year’s ITES Shenzhen Industrial Exhibition, enterprises like those mentioned above will exhibit their latest measurement solutions and equipment. In addition, leading enterprises in the industrial metrology field—including Mitutoyo, FARO, Keyence, Schneider, Serein, Edwards, Tianzhun, Scantech, Pimet, Lihe, Guoqian, Depusaike, Jicuihuake, Xinrong, Aoming, Yingshi, Bolijia, Weierxin, and others—are gearing up and will also showcase advanced measurement solutions including coordinate measuring machines (CMMs), optical imaging measurement, mechanical property testing, and quality defect detection. Stay tuned!

ITES Thematic Exhibition—Metal Cutting Machine Tool Show: As a key link in the high-end equipment industry chain, this exhibition area focuses on providing high-precision, high-flexibility measurement and inspection solutions for machine tool manufacturers and end-users, showcasing measurement solutions such as CMMs, image measuring instruments, measuring tools, measurement systems, and software. (Click “Read More” at the end of the article to learn about more thematic exhibition areas~)

If you are also interested in the liquid cooling industry chain, have innovative solutions for related processing, and wish to deeply engage with leading enterprises in the liquid cooling industry such as Foxconn, Vertiv, Xunqiang Electronics, and Lingyi iTech to connect with cooperation opportunities, welcome to scan the QR code to contact us. Secure your spot at the 2026 ITES Shenzhen Industrial Exhibition and book prime exhibition spaces now!