A vapor chamber using high thermal conductivity and permeability graphite foam as a wick has been designed, built, and tested. With ethanol as the working fluid, the vapor chamber has been demonstrated at a heat flux of 80Wcm2. The effects of the capillary limit, the boiling limit, and the thermal resistance in restricting the overall performance of a vapor chamber have been analyzed. Because of the high thermal conductivity of the graphite foams, the modeling results show that the performance of a vapor chamber using a graphite foam is about twice that of one using a copper wick structure. Furthermore, if water is used as the working fluid instead of ethanol, the performance of the vapor chamber will be increased further. Graphite foam vapor chambers with water as the working fluid can be made by treating the graphite foam with an oxygen plasma to improve the wetting of the graphite by the water.

1.
The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors: 2004 Update.
2.
Chu
,
R.
, 2004, “
The Challenges of Electronic Cooling: Past, Current and Future
,”
ASME J. Electron. Packag.
1043-7398,
126
(
4
), pp.
491
500
.
3.
Chi
,
S. W.
, 1976,
Heat Pipe Theory and Practice
,
McGraw-Hill
,
New York
, pp.
33
77
.
4.
Faghri
,
A.
, 1995,
Heat Pipe Science and Technology
,
Taylor and Francis
,
Washington, DC
, pp.
61
105
.
6.
Gilliot
,
C.
,
Avenas
,
Y.
,
Cezac
,
N.
,
Poupon
,
G.
,
Schaeffer
,
C.
, and
Fournier
,
E.
, 2003, “
Silicon Heat Pipes Used as Thermal Spreaders
,”
IEEE Trans. Compon., Packag. Manuf. Technol., Part A
1070-9886,
26
(
2
), pp.
332
339
.
7.
Benson
,
D. A.
,
Bowman
,
D.
,
Filter
,
W.
, and
Mitchell
,
R.
, 1998, “
Design and Characterization of Microscale Heater Structures for Test Die and Sensor Applications
,”
Inter Society Conference on Thermal Phenomena
, pp.
434
441
.
8.
Hammel
,
E.
,
Nagl
,
C.
,
Nicolics
,
J.
, and
Hanreich
,
G.
, 1999, “
High Thermal Performance Silicon Heat Spreader With Microwhisker Structure
,” IEEE∕CMPT Int’l Electronics Manufacturing Technology Symposium, pp.
426
432
.
9.
Avenas
,
Y.
,
Ivanova
,
M
,
Popova
,
N.
,
Schaeffer
,
C.
, and
Schanen
,
J.-L.
, 2002, “
Thermal Analysis of Thermal Spreader used in Power Electronics Cooling
,”
Industry Applications Conference, 37th IAS Annual Meeting
, pp.
216
221
.
10.
Holm
,
F. W.
, and
Goplen
,
S. P.
, 1979, “
Heat Transfer in the Meniscus Thin-Film Transition Region
,”
ASME J. Heat Transfer
0022-1481,
101
, pp.
543
547
.
11.
Ma
,
H. B.
, and
Peterson
,
G. P.
, 1997, “
Temperature Variation and Heat Transfer in Triangular Grooves With an Evaporating Film
,”
J. Thermophys. Heat Transfer
0887-8722,
11
(
1
), pp.
90
97
.
12.
Khrustalev
,
D.
, and
Faghri
,
A.
, 1995, “
Heat Transfer During Evaporation on Capillary-Grooved Structure of Heat Pipe
,”
ASME J. Heat Transfer
0022-1481,
117
, pp.
740
747
.
13.
Klett
,
J.
, 2000, “
Process for Making Carbon Form
,” US Patent No. 6,033,506.
14.
Klett
,
J.
, 1999, “
High Thermal Conductivity, Mesophase Pitch-Derived Carbon Foam
,”
J. Compos. Mater.
0021-9983,
15
(
4
), pp.
1
7
.
15.
Gallego
,
N.
, and
Klett
,
J.
, 2003, “
Carbon Foams for Thermal Management
,”
Carbon
0008-6223,
41
(
7
), pp.
1461
1466
.
16.
Coursey
,
J.
,
Kim
,
J.
, and
Boudreaux
,
P.
, 2005, “
Performance of Graphite Foam Evaporator for Use in Thermal Management
,”
ASME J. Electron. Packag.
1043-7398,
127
(
2
), pp.
127
134
.
18.
AlSi alloy materials are supplied by Sandvik Osprey Ltd., Millands, Neath, SA11 1NJ, UK.
19.
20.
Hagen
,
K. D.
, 1999,
Heat Transfer With Applications
,
Prentice-Hall
,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ
.
You do not currently have access to this content.