Microjet Impingement Cooling With Phase Change

The large heat generation rates in contemporary microprocessors require new thermal management solutions. Two-phase microjet impingement cooling promises high heat transfer coefficients and effective cooling of hotspots. We have fabricated integrated microjet structures with heaters and temperature sensors to study local heat transfer at the impingement surface of a confined microjet. Circular jets with diameters less than 100 μm are machined in glass. Preliminary temperature measurements (for Re_j = 100–500) suggest that heat transfer coefficients of 1000 W/m²C close to the jet stagnation zone can be achieved. As the flowrate of the jet is increased, a tradeoff in heat removal capability and wall superheat is observed. To aid in understanding the mechanism for wall superheat during boiling at the heated surface, the devices allow for optical access through the top of the device. However, the formation of vapor from the top reservoir makes visualization difficult. This study aids in the design of microjet heat sinks used for integration into a closed-loop cooling system.