SBIR Phase I: Low Thermal Expansion Substrate Containing Multiple Micro-Heat Pipes

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9861183 This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will investigate a novel process to produce low-cost heat sink plates containing arrays of wickless micro-heat pipes with effective capillary diameters on the order of 50-200 microns. As the speed of advanced electronic systems has increased dramatically in recent years, there has been growing interest in substrates containing arrays of micro-heat pipes for use in the thermal control of high power transistors and electronic circuits. The effective thermal conductivity of an individual micro-heat pipe can be orders of magnitude higher than the thermal conductivity of pure copper metal. No fabrication method currently exists to economically produce low-cost substrates containing arrays of micro-heat pipes. In Phase I, micro-heat pipes will be fabricated on a metallic substrate that exhibit a thermal expansion similar to silicon-based electronic components. The proposed micro-heat pipe plates will exhibit effective thermal conductivities significantly higher than pure copper metal and will be used commercially as heat sinks, heat spreaders, and thermal core materials. Micro-heat pipe substrates may be applied directly to the thermal management of commercial electronic systems such as heat sinks, thermal cores or heat spreading devices.