Enhancement of Condensation Heat Transfer in Micro Systems

Thermal management becomes a serious concern in computer system. CPU chips are placed into small spaces with difficulty in heat diffusion. This promotes many challenges in the field of thermal management of electronics to maintain the desirable operating temperature. In order to realize the enhancement of dissipation of high heat flux from electronic components, a lot of investigations have been carried out on new cooling technology using phase change phenomena. Since the micro condenser is required in the cooling system, we are directing our attention to the enhancement of condensation heat transfer in the micro system. This study focuses on high performance of dropwise condensation heat transfer due to its small conduction resistance. In the micro systems, the interface phenomena play an important role in heat transfer. We have done dropwise condensation experiments in a high vacuum chamber system to get precise information about the vapor-liquid interface transport phenomena. Surface temperature transients are measured directly with the thin film thermocouples fabricated on the condensing surface.