# Waterloo hybrid cooling: one coolant drop lowers simulated chip hotspot by up to 17 °C in 15 s

- Published: 2026-11-13 05:53 UTC
- Section: Digital & Computing › Computers
- Tags: hybrid immersion cooling, chip hotspot cooling, data centre cooling, deionized water, encapsulated coolant drops, University of Waterloo, Sushanta Mitra, thermal management, boiling coolant
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-604aa302472f49be401105c7_waterloo_hybrid_cooling/

**Waterloo's hybrid concept pairs water immersion with boiling coolant drops. In lab tests on a simulated chip, it cooled a hotspot several times faster than conventional immersion.**

![Waterloo hybrid cooling: one coolant drop lowers simulated chip hotspot by up to 17 °C in 15 s](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/b6843080313111d6.jpg)
*miragenews.com*

Researchers at the University of Waterloo are developing a hybrid cooling system for data centres that targets hotspots on computer chips with a single drop of boiling coolant, according to a report on miragenews.com. In laboratory tests, one drop lowered the temperature of a simulated chip hotspot by up to 17 °C in 15 seconds [1]. The authors say this is several times faster than conventional immersion [1].

## How the hybrid immersion system works

The concept combines general immersion cooling in inexpensive deionized water with spot cooling of especially hot areas using drops of a costly coolant [1]. "Water is excellent at handling steady, everyday heat and the drops take care of sudden spikes," said Dr. Sushanta Mitra, a professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering at Waterloo [1].

Depending on the workload, small areas of a chip can become much hotter than others within seconds. This makes them slow down, age faster and lose reliability, and coolant that simply flows past reacts too slowly [1]. The team chose an electronics coolant with a much lower boiling point than water. It is also heavier than water, so it does not mix with it and stays in place on a hotspot [1].

## Encapsulated drops and possible uses

The team, which included postdoctoral researcher Dr. Tian-Yu Zhang and PhD student Arnav Banerjee, built on its earlier work on encapsulating one liquid in a thin skin of another [1]. The coolant drops are wrapped in a thin skin of silicone oil. Adding tiny heat-conducting ceramic particles to the coating helps control how quickly the drops boil [1].

Mitra explained the mechanism: boiling absorbs a lot of heat, and the rising bubbles stir the surrounding water, which then carries heat away faster [1]. In his words, the system delivers the effect of boiling only where and when it is needed [1].

The researchers see the system working in one of two ways. In the first, coolant drops circulate through the water and activate when they reach hotspots. In the second, drops are delivered directly to hotspots detected by sensors [1]. The authors also name possible applications in electric vehicles, batteries, high-powered lasers and LED lighting [1].

The results come from laboratory tests on a simulated chip submerged in a tank of water. The study was published online in the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science [1].

## Sources

1. [miragenews.com](https://www.miragenews.com/waterloo-innovation-could-cut-ai-data-center-1774695/)
2. [Interesting Engineering](https://interestingengineering.com/science/waterloo-chip-hotspot-cooling)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-604aa302472f49be401105c7_waterloo_hybrid_cooling/