A Source-Integrated Micro-Cooling Device

Advanced Thermal and Environmental Concepts (ATEC Inc.), in collaboration with the University of Maryland, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and Thermacore, Inc., propose to develop and test a highly efficient, source integrated, ultra compact cooling device with broad applications in military and commercial sectors. An electrohydrodynamic (EHD)-enhanced ultra thin film evaporation concept is used to achieve high cooling rates with minimum pressure drop and power consumption penalties while benefiting from an on-line/on-demand feature for active control of the cooling surface temperature. The key innovations to obtain a low noise, high efficiency cooling system include: 1) a localized EHD micropump integrated into the sensor substrate, chip, or detector to be cooled reduces the pressure gradients and flow fluctuations in the system and 2) high heat transfer coefficients are achieved through combined thin film evaporation and EHD-enhanced pumping without transmission of any hydrodynamic or structural noise. Phase I efforts were successful in demonstrating the feasibility and performance of a micro-evaporator directly mounted on the back-side of a heat source. During Phase II, we will design and fabricate the other components required for an integrated cooling system, develop a functioning prototype, and demonstrate its superior capabilities.