An integrated microchannel heat sink consisting of shallow, nearly rectangular microchannels has been fabricated using standard micromachining techniques to highlight the effects of the micrometer sized channel shape on the evolving flow patterns and, consequently, on the thermal performance of the microsystem. An integrated heater serves as a local heat source, while an array of micro thermistors is used for temperature distribution measurements. The working fluid, DI water, is pressurized through the microchannels for forced convection heat transfer studies. Boiling curves for different flow rates have been recorded and analyzed based on the visualized flow patterns. Local nucleation, including bubble formation and bubble dynamics, is documented and found to be negligible. Although detected, in contrast with triangular microchannels, annular flow is observed to be unstable. Instead, the dominant flow pattern is an unsteady transition region connecting an upstream vapor zone to a downstream liquid zone with an average location depending on the input power. A physical mechanism based on the force balance across the vapor-liquid interface, and the development of a restoring force, is proposed to explain the flow visualization results. M This article features online multimedia enhancements

Forced convection boiling in microchannels is studied experimentally under the uniform heat flux boundary condition. Several microchannel heat sinks with integrated temperature sensors, spanning two orders of magnitude in height 5-500 µm, have been fabricated with designed nucleation sites on the bottom surfaces. The microchannels are capped by a glass wafer to monitor bubble activity using video microscopy. Distributed micro heater elements on the device backside are used as the heat source, while the working liquid flow rate is adjusted using a syringe pump. The boiling curves of the device temperature as a function of the input power have been measured for various flow rates. The curves for increasing and decreasing heat flux exhibit a hysteresis loop, while the conditions corresponding to the onset of nucleate boiling and critical heat flux (CHF) are clearly distinguishable. The activity of nucleation sites as well as the ensuing bubble dynamics, from incipience to departure, is found to depend on the channel height. The critical size above which a nucleation site is active, along with three aspects of bubble dynamics, namely growth rate, departure size and release frequency, have been characterized experimentally and proper control parameters have been identified.

The characterization of a micro heat pipe system, integrated with a local heater, temperature and capacitive microsensors is presented. Two liquid charging schemes based on a single hole, requiring vacuum environment, and a pair of holes, utilizing capillary forces are compared. Taking advantage of the great disparity between the dielectric constants of liquids and gases, capacitance sensors are used for void fraction measurements. Since it is difficult to control the phase content of a liquid-gas mixture in a micro heat pipe, a calibration technique based on a traveling water-air interface due to evaporation is introduced. The integrated sensor capacitance for pure water is found to depend on measurement frequency, temperature and ion concentration, exhibiting trends that are different from previous reports. The measured temperature and void fraction distribution along the heat pipes are consistent with the two-phase flow patterns recorded during the microsystem operation.