Experimental investigation of copper-grooved micro heat pipes (MHPs)

Abstract

Abstract With the excellent thermal conductivity and the compatibility to micro electromechanical systems technology, silicon is widely used in micro heat pipes (MHPs). Copper shows higher heat transfer capability and capillary traction than silicon. Copper microgrooves were fabricated on the silicon wafer using electroforming technique in this paper. Water contact angle measurements and thermal behavior tests demonstrated that copper-grooved MHPs showed better performance than silicon ones. Under the input power of 5.99 W, the equivalent thermal conductivities of copper-grooved and silicon-grooved MHPs were 228.98 W/K · m and 196.26 W/K · m. This work showed the feasibility of copper grooved silicon based MHPs in heat transfer for high-power light emitting diode (HP LED).