Modular heatsink and methods of use thereof

A heatsink for dissipating thermal energy from a substrate in thermal contact therewith, the heatsink comprising:

• a plurality of sequentially coupled links, each of the plurality of sequentially coupled links including:
• a hub portion elongated along a central longitudinal axis thereof;
• a male connector on a first side of the hub portion and elongated along a male connector axis that is parallel to the central longitudinal axis;
• a female connector on a second side of the hub portion and elongated along a female connector axis that is parallel to the central longitudinal axis, wherein the female connector of each of the plurality of sequentially coupled links is configured to couple with the male connector of an adjacent one of the plurality of sequentially coupled links;
• a planar contact portion on a third side of the hub portion configured to receive thermal energy via conduction from the substrate;
• and
• a fin extending from a fourth side of the hub portion configured to dissipate the thermal energy to a surrounding environment via convection;
• and
• a finless link that consists of:
• a second hub portion elongated along a second central longitudinal axis thereof;
• a second male connector on a first side of the second hub portion and elongated along a second male connector axis that is parallel to the second central longitudinal axis that is configured to couple with the female connector of an adjacent first link of the plurality of sequentially coupled links;
• a second female connector on a second side of the second hub portion and elongated along a second female connector axis that is parallel to the second central longitudinal axis that is configured to couple with the male connector of an adjacent second link of the plurality of sequentially coupled links;
• and
• a second contact portion on a third side of the second hub portion.

A method of dissipating thermal energy from a substrate, comprising:

• assembling a heatsink by sequentially coupling a plurality of links, wherein each of the plurality of links include a hub portion elongated along a central longitudinal axis thereof, a male connector on a first side of the hub portion and elongated along the central longitudinal axis, a female connector on a second side of the hub portion and elongated along the central longitudinal axis, a planar contact portion on a third side of the hub portion, and a fin extending from a fourth side of the hub portion, wherein sequentially coupling the plurality of links includes coupling the female connector of one or more of the plurality of links with the male connector of one or more corresponding links of the plurality of links adjacent thereto;
• coupling an extension link with a first link and a second link of the plurality of links, wherein the extension link includes a male connector member elongated along a longitudinal axis thereof, a female connector member elongated along a longitudinal axis thereof, and an elongated tether, wherein coupling the extension link to the first link and the second link includes:
• coupling the male connector member of the extension link to the female connector of the first link;
• coupling the female connector member of the extension link to the male connector of the second link;
• and
• coupling the male connector member and the female connector member of the extension link to each other with the elongated tether;
• disposing the heatsink in thermal contact with a surface of the substrate such that thermal energy is transferred from the surface to the planar contact portion of each of the plurality of links via conduction;
• and
• dissipating the thermal energy transferred to the planar contact portion from the fin of each of the plurality of links to a surrounding environment via convection.