Thermal management and temperature uniformity enhancement of electronic devices by micro heat sinks: A review

Abstract The electronic equipment developing towards miniaturization and high integration is facing the danger of high heat flux and non-uniform temperature distribution which leads to the reduction of life and reliability of electronic devices. The micro heat sinks have gained significant attention in heat dissipation of electronic devices with a high heat flux due to its large heat transfer surface to volume ratio, compact structure and outstanding thermal performance. In this review, we present the advantages and shortcomings of thermal enhancement technologies in different structural micro heat sinks. Moreover, the non-uniform temperature distribution which includes the temperature rising along the flow direction and hotspots, especially, the random hotspot with high heat flux, has been the serious issues in the thermal management of electronic devices. They are the main challenges for the efficient operation and service life of electronic components. Thus, it is urgent to develop an effective and economic process in automatic adaptive cooling of random hotspots. The purpose of this article is to introduce the existing thermal enhancement technologies in micro heat sinks and the reduction of non-uniform temperature distribution. Finally, the barriers and challenges for the developments of thermal management of electronic devices by micro heat sinks are discussed, and the future directions of the research topic are provided.