Large-Scale Vapor Chambers Enabled by Liquid Film Boiling for High-Power Electronics Cooling
摘要
Challenges of electronic cooling are becoming increasingly urgent due to the exponential rise in power densities and the non-uniform distribution of heat sources. Vapor chambers utilizing liquid-vapor phase change heat transfer are appealing due to their high performance and potentially low cost. However, heat dissipation performance, depending on the thin film evaporation, is limited by the capillary dry-out of wicking structures. Here, we demonstrate a large-scale vapor chamber enabled by high-performance liquid film boiling mode on the hierarchical mesh-wicking structures for high-power electronics cooling. The composite columns integrating with copper foam and copper powder are patterned in a zoned configuration to promote vapor diffusion and two-phase flow. The effects of the filling rate and cooling water temperature on the vapor flow and liquid film distribution are investigated. The results show that the X-shaped distribution of composite columns in the heat source region promotes the vapor diffusion throughout the vapor chamber, resulting in a thermal resistance of 0.04°C/W at the heat flux of 100 W/cm2 from an area of 775 mm2. The findings provide theoretical guidance for the structure design of high-performance large vapor chambers.