High-Performance Silicon HU-Type Manifold Microchannel Heat Sink for High-Heat-Flux Thermal Management

The growing thermal load in electronic systems has motivated the adoption of embedded microchannel cooling technologies, which effectively lowers thermal resistance while minimizing the required pumping power. Silicon HU-type manifold microchannel (MMC) chips are fabricated and experimentally investigated for their thermal-hydraulic performance using single-phase water cooling. This study presents a well-validated and reliable micro-nano fabrication process for the production of complex silicon MMC chips in details. For comparison, MMC chips with different manifold numbers and inlet-to-outlet manifold width ratios are fabricated and tested. The study reports key performance metrics, including the maximum and average surface temperatures, thermal resistance, average heat transfer coefficient, and pressure drop for different mass flow rates and heat fluxes. At a mass flow rate of 2.5 g/s, the proposed MMC heat sink can dissipate a heat flux of 706 W/cm2 with the maximum temperature kept below 120 °C and a pressure drop of only 11 kPa. Furthermore, the impact of manifold geometry on heat transfer performance is carefully discussed. The results demonstrate that high heat flux removal can be achieved with moderate pressure drop, highlighting the effectiveness of the proposed MMC design in the thermal management of high-heat-flux electronics.