Development of a capillary-driven two-phase microcooler using copper wiremesh 3D manifold and silicon micropin fin wicks

초록

Sustainable and energy-efficient cooling is crucial for managing high-performance computing architectures within the rapidly expanding data center industry. Here, we introduce a novel capillary-driven two-phase microcooler that eliminates the need for conventional pump-based cooling schemes. The device integrates thin-film boiling in silicon micropin fin wicks (six geometric variations) with a copper 3D wiremesh manifold (two spacings), representing a new approach that combines self-regulated capillary liquid supply with nearly complete vapor phase separation. Using deionized water, the optimized wick achieved a critical heat flux of 486 W/cm² at a low superheat of ΔTsat = 7 °C, corresponding to a two-phase thermal resistance of Rtp″= 1.8 mm²- °C/W, while ensuring nearly complete liquid–vapor separation (vapor quality ∼0.9). The microcooler offers design flexibility that allows any combinations of wick and manifold materials 9silicon or copper) as well as area and performance scalability toward larger heated footprints and higher heat fluxes (∼1 kW/cm²) and heat transfer coefficients (∼10⁶ W/m²- °C). These findings establish capillary-driven two-phase cooling as a transformative pathway for the thermal management of high-end microelectronics and energy-efficient data centers.

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