Miniature Ceramic Heat Exchangers

The CMD group is developing ceramic fluidic heat exchangers for cooling high heat flux electronic devices including integrated circuit chips (processors, ASICs, etc.), power amplifier chips, and lasers. Ceramic microchannel heat exchangers for single phase cooling and ceramic flat plate evaporators for two phase, loop heat pipe-based cooling are two examples that offer compact thermal packaging solutions for electronics cooling. In both cases, the ceramic heat exchangers are fabricated using materials that are commonly used as packaging substrates in electronics (alumina, aluminum nitride, and low temperature co-fired ceramic - LTCC). These devices serve two functions: 1) the primary heat acquisition for the electronics being cooled; and 2) the traditional ceramic packaging functions providing an electrically insulating substrate for deposition of metallized interconnecting circuit patterns and bonding of the electronic components being cooled. Basically, a ceramic chip carrier or multi-chip module package with integrated liquid cooled heat exchanger. The figures shows an alumina microchannel heat exchanger. The CSL process allows fabrication of the devices as a monolithic part, meaning there is not a separately attached lid, as is required when the microchannels are made by machining or etching. This reduces manufacturing cost and the risk of leaks during use.

Alumina Microchannel Heat Exchanger made by Ceramic Stereolithography

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