Heat sink structure with a vapor-permeable membrane for two-phase cooling

A method of facilitating extraction of heat from a heat-generating electronic component, the method comprising:

• providing a heat sink comprising:
• a thermally conductive structure comprising at least one coolant-carrying channel;
• and
• a membrane structure associated with the at least one coolant-carrying channel, the membrane structure comprising at least one vapor-permeable region, at least a portion of the at least one vapor-permeable region overlying a portion of the at least one coolant-carrying channel and facilitating removal of vapor from the at least one coolant-carrying channel, wherein the membrane structure further comprises at least one vapor-impermeable region, the at least one vapor-impermeable region comprising multiple elongate, vapor-impermeable digits, each elongate, vapor-impermeable digit extending across the at least one coolant-carrying channel and comprising at least one orifice coupled to inject coolant into the at least one coolant-carrying channel onto at least one surface of the at least one coolant-carrying channel, the at least one orifice overlying the at least one coolant-carrying channel at a location intermediate the ends of the at least one coolant-carrying channel, the multiple elongate, vapor-impermeable digits being interdigitated with multiple vapor-permeable areas of the at least one vapor-impermeable region;
• and
• coupling the heat sink to the at least one heat-generating electronic component so that heat generated by the at least one heat-generating electronic component is dissipated to coolant within the at least one coolant-carrying channel of the heat sink, wherein vapor generated within the at least one coolant-carrying channel can exhaust from the at least one coolant-carrying channel across the at least one vapor-permeable region of the membrane structure.