Design challenges for high-performance heat sinks used in microelectronic equipment: evolution and future requirements

This paper provides an overview of the state-of-the-art and general trends in heat sink design for air-cooled electronic applications. Apart from heat transfer optimization, key issues in advancing heat sink thermal performance are discussed, including entropy generation minimization, interfacial contact thermal resistance minimization and the integration of heat spreading technologies. The need for continued fundamental research to enable future advances in heat sink design is highlighted.