Multilayer heat sinks

Abstract

Structural hierarchy in heat sinks combines the thermal conductivity of materials with fin architectures tailored for active or passive electronic cooling components. Heat sinks with nanoscale hierarchical structures can combine thermally conductive materials with high aspect-ratio fms for rapid thermal exchange with surroundings. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are promising components since they combine ultra-high thermal conductivity along their axial directions with high surface area and radiative heat transfer capacity. In some embodiments, nanostructures (e.g., aligned carbon nanotubes) strongly attached (e.g., covalently attached) to surfaces of structures such as heat sinks, heat spreaders, etc., can enhance thermal performance (e.g., thermoelectric energy generation (TEG) voltage, heat dissipation, heat radiation, etc.).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.