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

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9687943-B2
Application number	US-201615183104-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 15, 2016
Priority date	Jul 25, 2011
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

A heat sink, and cooled electronic structure and cooled electronics apparatus utilizing the heat sink are provided. The heat sink is fabricated of a thermally conductive structure which includes one or more coolant-carrying channels coupled to facilitate the flow of coolant through the coolant-carrying channel(s). The heat sink further includes a membrane associated with the coolant-carrying channel(s). The membrane includes at least one vapor-permeable region, which overlies a portion of the coolant-carrying channel(s) and facilitates removal of vapor from the coolant-carrying channel(s), and at least one orifice coupled to inject coolant onto at least one surface of the coolant-carrying channel(s) intermediate opposite ends of the channel(s).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of facilitating extraction of heat from a heat-generating electronic component, the method comprising:
providing a heat sink assembly comprising:
a thermally conductive heat sink with at least one coolant-carrying channel extending substantially parallel to a base of the thermally conductive heat sink, the at least one coolant-carrying channel comprising a first channel end and a second channel end;
a membrane structure associated with and overlying 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 intermediate the first and second channel ends thereof, and facilitating removal of vapor from the at least one coolant-carrying channel, and the membrane structure further comprising at least one orifice coupled to inject coolant onto a surface of the thermally conductive heat sink within the at least one coolant-carrying channel intermediate the first and second channel ends of the at least one coolant-carrying channel without the coolant contacting the heat-generating electronic component; and
at least one plate mask associated with the membrane structure and defining a multilayer structure, the at least one plate mask comprising at least one opening aligned to at least a portion of the at least one vapor-permeable region of the membrane structure and defining at least one vapor-permeable region of the multilayer structure; and

coupling the heat sink assembly to the at least one heat-generating electronic component so that heat generated by the at least one heat-generating electronic component is dissipated through the thermally conductive heat sink to coolant within the at least one coolant-carrying channel of the heat sink without the coolant contacting the heat-generating electronic component, 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.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the membrane structure comprises a liquid-impermeable membrane, and the at least one coolant-carrying channel comprises at least one coolant-carrying microchannel having a characteristic dimension less than 1.0 mm.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the multilayer structure further comprises at least one vapor-impermeable region, the at least one vapor-impermeable region comprising the at least one orifice coupled to inject coolant into the at least one coolant-carrying channel.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing at least one vapor transport channel in fluid communication with the at least one vapor-permeable region of the membrane structure, the at least one vapor transport channel facilitating exhausting of vapor egressing across the at least one vapor-permeable region of the membrane structure from the at least one coolant-carrying channel.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising providing at least one coolant exhaust channel in fluid communication with the at least one coolant-carrying channel and facilitating exhausting of coolant from the at least one coolant-carrying channel.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Campbell Levi A
• Chu Richard C
• David Milnes P
• Ellsworth Jr Michael J
• Iyengar Madhusudan K
• Simons Robert E

Classifications

• F28F13/00

  Arrangements for modifying heat-transfer, e.g. increasing, decreasing (F28F1/00 - F28F11/00 take precedence) · CPC title

• F28F3/00

  Plate-like or laminated elements; Assemblies of plate-like or laminated elements (specially adapted for movement F28F5/00) · CPC title

• H05K7/20272 Primary

  Accessories for moving fluid, for expanding fluid, for connecting fluid conduits, for distributing fluid, for removing gas or for preventing leakage, e.g. pumps, tanks or manifolds · CPC title

• G06F1/20

  Cooling means · CPC title

• F28F3/12

  Elements constructed in the shape of a hollow panel, e.g. with channels {(F28D1/02, F28D1/03 take precedence)} · CPC title