Development and Experimental Validation of a Micro/Nano Thermal Ground Plane

Heat pipes are commonly used in electronics cooling applications to spread heat from a concentrated heat source to a larger heat sink. Heat pipes work on the principles of two-phase heat transfer by evaporation and condensation of a working fluid. The amount of heat that can be transported is limited by the capillary and hydrostatic forces in the wicking structure of the device. Thermal ground planes are two-dimensional high conductivity heat pipes that can serve as thermal ground to which heat can be rejected by a multitude of heat sources. As hydrostatic forces are dependent on gravity, it is commonly known that heat pipe and thermal ground plane performance is orientation dependent. The effect of variation of gravity force on performance is discussed and the development of a miniaturized thermal ground plane for high g operation is described. In addition, experimental results are presented from zero to −10g acceleration. The study shows and discusses that minimal orientation or g-force dependence can be achieved if pore dimensions in the wicking structure can be designed at micro/nano-scale dimensions.