Forced-convection, liquid-cooled, microchannel heat sinks
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorsRichard J. Phillips, Leon R. Glicksman, Ralph Larson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A microchannel heat sink used to cool a high power electronic device such as an integrated circuit comprising a plurality of channels in close thermal contact to the integrated circuit and through which a liquid is passed to create either a developing laminar flow or a turbulent flow. The turbulent flow may be either developing or fully developed. The heat sink features a compensation heater surrounding the integrated circuit and heated at the same rate as the integrated circuit to thereby provide a more uniform temperature at the perimeter of the integrated circuit.
Claims10
A method of using a microchannel heat sink to cool a high power device such as an integrated circuit, said method comprising the steps of:
- forcing a fluid into an input port of said microchannel heat sink;
- passing said fluid through a plurality of channels in said microchannel heat sink to create a turbulent flow through said channels, said channels having a width between 125 and 300 micrometers, and being in thermal contact with said high power device to thereby transfer heat from said high power device to said fluid;
- and
- discharging said fluid from said microchannel heat sink to thereby dissipate said heat.
A method of using a microchannel heat sink to cool a high power device such as an integrated circuit, said method comprising the steps of:
- forcing a fluid into an input port of said microchannel heat sink;
- passing said fluid through a plurality of channels in said microchannel heat sink to create a developing laminar flow through said channels, said channels having a width between 125 and 300 micrometers, and being in thermal contact with said high power device to thereby transfer heat from said high power device to said fluid;
- and
- discharging said fluid from said microchannel heat sink to thereby dissipate said heat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.