Forced-Convection, Liquid-Cooled, Microchannel Heat Sinks

摘要

Water-cooled, microchannel heat sinks have been developed that can dissipate heat loads in excess of 1000 W/sq. cm with maximum surface temperatures <120 C. A theorectical model of microchannel heat sink thermal and fluid performance is presented. The model applies for small-, moderate-, and large-aspect-ratio channels, with fully developed and developing flow in the laminar and turbulent regimes. The channel surfaces may be smooth or roughened with repeated-ribs. Variable property effects have been included for the heat-sink material and the liquid coolant (compressibility effects have not been included). A new computer program has been written to compute the thermal and fluid performance for a large variety of coolant-flow-rate constraints and heat-sink designs. (A complete listing of this 'MICROHEX' computer program is provided in this technical report). Thermal spreading at the perimeter of a surface heat source (e.g., an integrated circuit) is taken into account using simplified one-dimensional models. A novel concept of a'Compensation Heater' is presented that can enhance the temperature uniformity across IC heat sources. Procedures for fabricating microchannels in indium phosphide are presented. Indium phosphide microchannel heat sinks have been tested that have total thermal resistance as low as 0.072 C/(W/sq. cm) for a 0.25-cm square resistor heat source.