Thermal characterization of flat silicon heat pipes

The miniaturization and improving performance of electronic devices lead to increasing power densities. Consequently, the thermal environment has become a main issue in their performance and reliability. The use of flat miniature heat pipes is investigated to conduct the heat over distances or to spread it over a larger surface area avoiding hot spots on the device The interest of silicon etching techniques for heat pipe manufacturing is that such heat pipes can be very compact, very light and have a better hydraulic behavior than metallic heat pipes. In this paper the structure of a flat silicon grooved heat pipe is presented. Then an experimental study investigates power limitations of a realized prototype. The capillary limit is in the range 20-30 W depending on the working temperature.