ANN ARBOR, MI
As the data center industry rapidly expands, the demand for sustainable and energy-efficient cooling solutions for high-performance computing architectures has never been greater. Dr. Ercan M. Dede, TRINA Director of the Electronics Research Department, together with co-authors from Stanford University, University of California Merced, and Chung-Ang University in South Korea, present a novel capillary-driven two-phase microcooler that eliminates the need for conventional pump-based cooling systems, offering a transformative approach to thermal management.
The device integrates thin-film boiling within silicon micropin fin wicks—explored across six geometric variations—with a copper 3D wiremesh manifold featuring two different spacings. This innovative design enables a self-regulated capillary liquid supply coupled with nearly complete vapor phase separation, significantly enhancing cooling performance.
Using deionized water as the working fluid, the optimized wick demonstrated a critical heat flux of 486 W/cm² at a low superheat of ΔTsat = 7 °C. This corresponds to an exceptionally low two-phase thermal resistance of 1.8 mm²-°C/W, while maintaining a vapor quality near 0.9, indicating efficient liquid–vapor separation. The microcooler’s design flexibility allows for various combinations of wick and manifold materials—silicon or copper—and supports scalability to larger heated areas and higher heat fluxes approaching 1 kW/cm². Additionally, it achieves heat transfer coefficients on the order of 10⁶ W/m²-°C.
These results establish capillary-driven two-phase cooling as a promising and energy-efficient pathway for managing the thermal loads of next-generation microelectronics and data centers. By reducing reliance on mechanical pumps and enhancing heat dissipation, this technology paves the way for more sustainable, high-performance computing infrastructures.
Please see the full article in the International Journal of Mechanical Sciences
