Thermo-fluidic characteristics in a cross-linked silicon microchannel heat sink

This paper presents the flow and heat transfer characteristics in a cross-linked silicon microchannel heat sink. The heat sink is composed of 45 channels, 270 pin wide x 285 mu m tall in a silicon substrate formed via deep reactive ion etching. A detailed discussion of the pressure drop data reduction is described, including characterization of the channel cross-sections and methods to account for inlet and exit loss coefficients. No significant difference is observed in the pressure drop measurements between the cross-linked and standard heat sinks flowing air and water. The use of unencapsulated liquid crystal thermography was successfully utilized to obtain local heat transfer data with FC-72 as the working fluid. The heat transfer results show inflections in the thermal profile due to the cross-links.