Composite Heat Pipe Baseplates for Thermal Management of T/R Modules

Thermal managment of T/R modules requires new materials to reduce the thermal resistance between the high frequency amplifiers and the module cooling system. We are proposing to construct a heat pipe evaporator as the baseplate of a T/R module using a newcomposite material with low CTE and high thermal conductivity. Aligned fibers both within the composite material as well as within the heat pipe wick will substantially increase the effective surface area for heat transfer. Advanced materials such asGaAs and GaN produce power densities beyond the capabilities of current materials. Our approach will enable these and similar devices with very high heat flux to be cooled. This technology can be adapted to cooling cell phone amplifiers, personalcomputers, and power electronic modules.