A comprehensive review on microchannel heat sinks for electronics cooling

The heat dissipation density of electronic devices is increasing dramatically, which causes a serious heat bottleneck in electronics. Operating temperature over its rated temperature results in performance deterioration and even device damage. With the development of micro-machining technologies, microchannel heat sinks have become one of the best ways to remove the considerable amount of heat generated by the high-power electronics. It shows the advantages of large specific surface area, small size, saving coolant and high heat transfer coefficient. This paper comprehensively overviews the research progress in microchannel heat sinks and generalizes the hotspots and bottlenecks of this area. The heat transfer mechanisms and performances of different channel structures, coolants, channel materials and some other influence factors are reviewed. Besides, this paper classifies the heat transfer enhancement technology and reviews the related studies on both the single-phase and phase-change flow and heat transfer. The comprehensive review is expected to provide theoretical reference and technical guidance for further research and application of microchannel heat sinks in the future.