International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313

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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhmt

Review

Recent advances in MEMS-based micro heat pipes

Jian Qu a,⇑, Huiying Wu b, Ping Cheng b, Qian Wang a, Qin Sun a
a
School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
b
School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: MEMS-based micro heat pipes (MHPs), as a novel heat pipe technology, is considered a promising choice
Received 14 January 2017 for thermal management applications in microelectronic circuits packaging, concentrating photovoltaic
Received in revised form 10 March 2017 cells, infrared detectors, laser diodes, etc. This paper presents a comprehensive review on recent devel-
Accepted 10 March 2017
opments and advances in different types of MEMS-based MHPs and emerging polymer flexible heat pipes,
Available online 3 April 2017
starting from a brief introduction of basic concept, structure characteristics, and advantages over conven-
tional heat pipes. The fabrication and packaging methodology of MEMS-based MHPs are summarized and
Keywords:
compared. The progress in diverse MEMS-based MHPs, focusing on experimental aspects, is thoroughly
Micro heat pipe
Thermal management
reviewed and discussed. Also, the nature-inspired nanostructured and micro/nano hierarchical wicks
Chip-level cooling suitable for MEMS-based MHPs are briefly introduced. Some promising and innovatory applications of
Hierarchical micro/nano-structure MEMS-based MHPs are reported. Finally, challenges impacting the development and application of
Polymer heat pipe MEMS-based MHPs are outlined.
Capillary action Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
2. Fabrication, evacuating, charging and packaging of MEMS-based micro heat pipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
2.1. Fabrication process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
2.2. Evacuating, charging and packaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
3. State-of-the-art of MEMS-based micro heat pipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
3.1. Micro-grooved heat pipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
3.1.1. Experimental studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
3.1.2. Theoretical analyses and modelings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
3.1.3. Novel designs for performance improvement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
3.2. Micro capillary pumped loops (CPLs) and micro loop heat pipes (LHPs). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
3.2.1. Micro capillary pumped loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
3.2.2. Micro loop heat pipes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
3.3. Micro oscillating heat pipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
3.4. Micro vapor chambers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
3.5. Polymer heat pipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
4. Nano and micro/nano hierarchical capillary wicking structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
5. Applications of MEMS-based micro heat pipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
6. Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: rjqu@mail.ujs.edu.cn (J. Qu).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2017.03.034
0017-9310/Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313
1. Introduction
The goal of enhancing heat transfer while reducing the size and
volume of energy conversion/thermal management systems has
been a subject of intensive research for several decades. VLSI cir-
cuits and resultant high power densities have generated a larger
amount of heat, and if not properly removed, will cause chip over-
heating and inevitably result in the degrading performance and
premature failure. Generally speaking, the thermal management
at the system level is not a serious problem since adequate conven-
tional cooling schemes are available. Cooling at the chip level,
however, remains a major bottleneck to the performance and reli-
ability of electronics/optoelectronics due to the local high-heat-
flux hot spots with a large on-chip temperature gradient and the
spatial constraint [1–4].
To provide high-efficiency and compact thermal control solu-
tions for next-generation electronics/optoelectronics, much efforts
have been made to develop innovative micro-cooling technologies,
capable of removing a large amount of heat from chips or improv-
ing temperature uniformity [5–7]. Among them, micro heat pipes
(MHPs) appear to be one of the most promising ways and have
attracted considerable attention since they were first introduced
by Cotter [8]. Although miniature heat pipes with micro wicking
structures are also sometimes improperly referred to as MHPs for
practical situations [9–12], some of them are mini tube devices
in nature and relatively large in size for direct cooling of semicon-
ductor chips. A true MHP has a single noncircular channel for both
liquid and vapor phases, and there are no additional wicks installed
on the inner wall utilized by conventional heat pipes to assist the
return of condensate to the evaporator section. Instead, capillary
forces are largely generated in sharp edges of the noncircular chan-
nel cross sections as illustrated in Fig. 1, which serve as liquid
arteries. The cross-section dimension of an MHP is subject to a
unique criterion given by
rc
P1
rh
Fig. 1. Cross sections of individual MHPs: (a) and (h) triangular section; (b) and (g) rectangular section; (c), (d) and (f) square section; (e) trapezoidal section.
295
where rc and rh are the capillary and hydraulic radius, respectively.
Accordingly, the hydraulic radius of total flow passage in an MHP is
comparable in magnitude to the capillary radius of vapor-liquid
interface. This relationship better defines an MHP and helps to dif-
ferentiate between small size conventional heat pipes and veritable
MHPs.
Envisioned as very small heat transfer components, MHPs were
also termed as micro-grooved heat pipe (micro-GHP) by Suman
[13]. These types of micro-GHPs act as thermal spreaders which
are well suited for direct heat removal from semiconductor
devices because they can be fabricated and integrated into elec-
tronic/optoelectronic chips on the basis of micro-electro-
mechanical systems (MEMS) technology. They are generally placed
in an array of parallel MHPs on the substrate surface in order to
increase the effective thermal conductivity and heat transfer area
[14].In this review, MHPs fabricated through MEMS technologies
are labeled as MEMS-based MHPs and the foot print is primarily
comparable to that (but not limited to) of a semiconductor chip.
In addition to micro-GHPs, advances in some other meso-heat
pipes, such as capillary pumped loops (CPLs), loop heat pipes
(LHPs), oscillating heat pipes (OHPs), and vapor chambers (VCs),
were also made to integrate on silicon wafers by means of
micro-fabrication techniques and became embedded two-phase
micro-spreaders. According to the open literature, a heat pipe that

ðq q Þgr2

satisfies the Bond number Bo ¼ l rg h to be on the order of 1
or capillary action dominates gravity can also be termed as an
MHP [15,16]. Therefore, to distinguish from ordinary MHPs, the
concept of MEMS-based MHPs herein are not simply limited to
above micro-GHPs etched on silicon wafers but also other loop-
type or unloop-type styles fabricated through MEMS technologies,
regardless of having wicking structures or not. Due to the ultra-
compact size, high reliability, high local heat removal rates and
being self-contained and self-started, MEMS-based MHPs are
believed to be a promising option to meet ongoing and future
chip-level cooling demands.
ð1Þ
296 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313
Most recently, polymer-based heat pipes fabricated by polymer
casing materials have also attracted growing interests because
they offer high performance, flexible, and low-cost thermal man-
agement solutions for future heat generation components and sys-
tems [17]. Also, MEMS-compatible fabrication processes make
polymer heat pipes suitable for simple incorporation in electronics
packaging especially flexible organic display devices. Therefore,
this emerging heat pipe is also merged into the MEMS-based
MHP family in this review though they are usually not etched onto
solid materials.
Compared to conventional heat pipes, MEMS-based MHPs work
as micro coolers providing the advantages of (1) precise tempera-
ture control at the chip level, (2) overall efficient cooling because
specific heat sources within the electronic package may be tar-
geted and reduce the contact thermal resistance, (3) material com-
patibility with the electronic system, and (4) large scale replication
and mass production.
Although some excellent reviews of literature on MHPs, both
experimentally and theoretically, have been presented by Peter-
son et al. [9,18] and Suman [13,15] prior to 2009, it may be
noted that these reviews were largely focused on micro-GHPs
and there is no comprehensive review available on MEMS-
based MHPs. Besides, different from micro-GHPs, wicks are
essential components in some types of MHPs. As a result, to
match the small size of these micro devices, nanostructured
and micro/nano hierarchical wicking structures such as carbon
nanotubes (CNTs) and silicon or metal nanowires (NW) have
been presented and evaluated for use as novel wicks because
of their high capillarity and enlarged thin-film evaporation area
[19]. In this review, we present a summary of recent advances
in MEMS-based MHPs and provide a basis for the design, per-
formance improvement, and further expansion in their
applications.
Fig. 2. Fabrication process of the star-grooved MHP [23].
2. Fabrication, evacuating, charging and packaging of MEMS-
based micro heat pipes
2.1. Fabrication process
Normally, MEMS-based MHPs with hydraulic diameters on the
order of 20–500 lm could be incorporated as an integral part of sil-
icon wafers, and the directionally dependent wet etching or deep
reactive ion etching (DRIE) processes are commercially available
and widely utilized for microgroove fabrication to shape these
micro devices. The wet chemical etching process can create a series
of trapezoidal or triangular grooves, while DRIE process by virtue
of physical plasma tool generates rectangular grooves. Once paral-
lel micro-grooves are etched onto the silicon wafer, a Pyrex 7740
glass cover plate is often bonded to the surface to form closed
channels based on the anodic bonding technique for the visualiza-
tion of two-phase flow in the micro device.
The lithographic masking technique, coupled with an
orientation-dependent etching technique, is typically utilized,
and Peterson [20] has summarized these processes. In addition, a
multi-source vapor deposition process was developed by Mallik
et al. [21,22] to create an array of long, narrow channels of triangu-
lar cross section lined with a thin layer of metal (copper or silver)
to form MHPs. To construct MHPs having complicated structure,
such as three layers of wafers, more fabrication steps are required.
Fig. 2 illustrates the overall process to fabricate a star grooves MHP
formed by three layer (100) silicon wafers by Kang and Huang [23].
They used the photolithography wet etching technology to etch a
series of parallel V-grooves, and then three layers of wafers were
bonded to form the MHP.
In order to improve the temperature measurement accuracy
and better understand the MHP performance, micro temperature
sensors including poly-silicon integrated thermistors [24–28] or
 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313
Table 1
Summary of some typical charging and packaging methods for MEMS-based MHPs.
Working fluids Charging methods
Methanol Fully fill working fluid vapor characterized by high pressure and then
condense into desired amount of liquid
DI water Fully fill working fluid and then partially remove through evaporation
Ethanol and Fully fill condensate from working fluid as a vapor and then partially
methanol remove through pumping out
Water and Backfill the working fluid after evacuation, and then fill with a micro-
methanol metering valve controllably
DI water Fully fill working fluid and then partially remove through pumping out
platinum resistance temperature detectors (RTDs) [29–31] were
integrated directly on the backside of silicon wafer to achieve in-
situ temperature measurements and obtain temperature profiles
along the longitudinal axis of the micro device precisely.
2.2. Evacuating, charging and packaging
After being fabricated, an MEMS-based MHP is partially filled
with a phase-change working fluid. Prior to charging, non-
condensable gases in the MHP need to be removed because these
residual gases may drastically degrade the device performance or
even result in operation failure. So, the micro device must be evac-
uated to a pressure as low as 104 to 102 torr. Once the interior of
an MHP is fully evacuated to a desired vacuum, a proper amount of
working fluid via degassing treatment will be introduced. How-
ever, accurate control of the charging liquid amount and packaging
become a tremendous challenge if decreasing the size of device
towards an MHP as the total liquid volume is small, typically in
the order of magnitude of about 10–100 lL.
To fill MHPs with tiny interior volumes, various approaches
have been developed. Table 1 gives several typical methods with
respect to the charging and packaging of micro-GHPs, and similar
methods were utilized for other styles of MHPs. As can be seen that
some methods are accurate to obtain the desired filling ratio, while
others are less accurate but easy to manipulate. Since the MHP per-
formance is extremely sensitive to the fluid filling ratio, accurate
charging is quite important to package an MEMS-based MHP. How-
ever, accurate charging schemes are usually associated with cum-
bersome techniques or complex filling systems. Recently, a fluid
charging station with demonstrated accuracy of ±1.64 ll was
developed by Ababneh et al. [32] to evacuate and backfill prototype
vapor chambers using a series of graded resolution burettes. It is
available for an opaque miniature heat pipe with a total liquid vol-
ume less than 1 ml and enables filling with high precision, while
associated with the deficiency of system complexity.
After charging, the filling hole of MHP will be sealed by various
methods depending on one-off or repeated charging. Then, the
MHP can be used as a real passive thermal spreader. The dead vol-
ume, especially for the repeated charging, related to the volume
space inside the fittings and valves could be sometimes compara-
ble to or even larger than the expected interior space of an MHP
and may affect the thermal performance significantly. To reduce
the dead volume and enhance repeatability and charging accuracy,
it becomes quite difficult and requires flexible charging procedures
and systems.
3. State-of-the-art of MEMS-based micro heat pipes
Peterson and coworkers [14] are renowned for their seminal
contribution on direct integration of MHPs into silicon substrates
in the early 90s of the last century. Subsequently, a large number
297
Volume Packaging methods Repeatable Refs.
control or not
Accurate Ionic or ultraviolet bonding No [14]
Less Sealed with silicone sealant Yes/No [21]
accurate
Accurate Sealed with close valve Yes [25,26]
Accurate Sealed with close valve Yes [33]
Less Fuse the filling glass tube connected Yes [34]
accurate to the filling hole
of relevant papers, mostly experimental work, have been pub-
lished, involving micro-GHP, micro-CPL, micro-LHP, micro-OHP,
and micro-VC. Recently, some flexible heat pipes using polymer
materials as the case also demonstrated promising potential for
simple incorporation in electronics packaging due to the MEMS-
compatible fabrication processes. All of these MEMS-based MHPs
will be highlighted in following paragraphs.
3.1. Micro-grooved heat pipes
3.1.1. Experimental studies
Although micro-GHPs were envisioned by Cotter [8] to be fabri-
cated and integrated into silicon substrates, this concept was vali-
dated somewhat later by Peterson et al. [14]. In their investigation,
an array of micro-GHPs was fabricated on one side of a silicon
wafer and distributed heat sources were on the other side. Subse-
quently, Peterson’s group [21,22,35–38] further carried out some
experimental investigations to verify the technical feasibility of
micro-GHPs as an integral part of semiconductor devices. There-
after, more works have been conducted by other researchers [2
3–29,33,34,39–45] to extend the MHP concept and ensure poten-
tial advantages. Table 2 summarizes some representative works
in the literature focusing on MEMS-based micro-GHPs.
Initially, silicon substrates integrated with rectangular and/or
triangular micro-GHP arrays were used to reduce the maximum
temperature and increase the effective thermal conductivity as
compared with plain silicon wafer. However, some experimental
investigations [25,26,33] demonstrated that the improvement of
effective thermal conductivity after using micro-GHP arrays was
rather limited, which was mainly attributed to the large thermal
conductivity of silicon material and hence a considerable amount
of heat was transferred directly by conduction through the
substrate.
The heat transfer capacity of a micro-GHP mainly depends on
the circulation ability of working fluid inside it. To enhance the
micro-GHP performance, some efforts have been dedicated to
improve the capillarity and then liquid return to the evaporator
section. Kang and Huang [23] proposed two silicon micro-GHPs
with star and rhombus grooves, as illustrated in Fig. 3(a) and (b),
respectively. Significant heat transfer improvement was achieved
by these two micro-GHPs due to larger capillarity provided by
more acute angles and micro-gaps. Based on a 1D model, the
advantage in heat transfer capacity of micro-GHP with star-
groove channels was theoretically analyzed and compared with
regular polygonal channel by Hung and Seng [46], and found that
the former outperforms the latter in virtue of its flexibility in
reducing the corner apex angle to provide higher capillarity. More-
over, novel micro-GHPs, as illustrated in Fig. 3(c) and (d), enable
partially separate liquid-vapor countercurrent flow with the aid
of smaller channels serving as arteries were recently developed
[25,39]. In Fig. 3(c), the liquid return via independently etched
298 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313

Table 2
Summary of experimental studies on silicon-based micro-GHPs.

Working Cross section shape and Channel Charging ratio Remarks Refs.
fluid dimension (width  depth, number
lm2)
Methanol Rectangular (45  80) and 39 – Compared to a plain silicon wafer, increases in the effective thermal [35]
Triangular (120  80) conductivities of 31% and 81% were obtain for the MHP arrays with
rectangular and triangular grooves, respectively, at a power input of 4 W
Methanol Triangular (260  185.5 and 73 and 127 5–80% At a power input of 3 W, a maximum improvement of 11% in effective [33]
and DI 100  70.2) thermal conductivity was achieved
water
Ethanol Triangular (230  170) 55 6–66% Compared to the empty MHP array, no significant heat transfer [25]
enhancement was clearly achieved
Methanol MHP: quasi-triangular Both 25 50% Compared to the empty MHP array, a maximum improvement of 300% in [25]
(500  500) Artery: effective thermal conductivity was achieved when using smaller triangular
triangular (–) channels as arteries
Methanol Triangular (25  55) 34 and 66 – At an input heat flux of 4.70 W/cm2, reductions in the maximum surface [37]
temperature and temperature gradient of 24.4% and 27.4%, respectively,
were achieved for the MHP array with 34 channels; the corresponding
reductions were 29.0% and 41.7%, respectively, for the MHP array with 66
channels
Methanol – 31 60% (star groove) For MHP arrays with star and rhombus grooves, increases in the average [23]
and 80% (rhombus effective thermal conductivity of approximately 70% and 80%, respectively,
groove) were achieved
Methanol Triangular (500  350) 27 0–80% Compared to the empty MHP array, an increase in the effective thermal [27]
conductivity of about 67% was obtained at an optimum filling ratio of 10%
DI water Square (100  100) 22 _ Effective thermal conductivities of 261 and 324 W/(m K) were obtained [29]
based on two separate specimens, respectively
Ethanol MHP: triangular (200  156) 9 and 8, – Through arteries, an additional amount of working liquid can be effectively [39]
Artery: triangular (100  78) respectively transported to the evaporator section and thus improving the MHP
performance
Ethanol MHP: triangular (width, 371) 9 and 8, – The implanted arteries can effectively improve the liquid transport [40]
Artery: triangular (width, respectively capability from the cold end back to the hot end, extending the MHP
268) performance greatly up to 100%
DI water Evaporator: silicon, _ 30% Equivalent thermal conductivities of copper- and silicon-grooved MHPs [41]
rectangular (200  200); were 2.16 and 1.70 times higher than that of silicon wafer, respectively
Pyrex, 10000  200
DI water Triangular (100  70) 15 0.3 mL The MHP improved the temperature uniformity of the substrate, reducing [42]
the maximum temperature difference from 17 °C (dry substrate) to 11 °C at
a power input of 4 W
DI water Triangular (100  70) 38 20% The effective thermal conductivity of the MHP array increased by 25%-33% [43]
in comparison with the empty MHP array

The symbol ‘‘–” in Table 2 means that there is no data.

smaller triangular channels to the evaporator rather than common
liquid-vapor counter-current flow as occurred in conventional
micro-GHPs. Therefore, it can significantly reduce the liquid-
vapor interaction and then enlarges the heat transport limitation.
The design in Fig. 3(d) consists of one vein channel which acts as
the ordinary micro-GHP and two neighboring arterial channels dis-
tributed on both sides of the vein and connected together at both
ends. Due to the liquid pressure difference between the cold end
of the artery and micro-GHP, the liquid gathered at the condenser
region could be transported back. Shortly thereafter, Liu et al. [40]
demonstrated that the implanted arteries can effectively enhance
the capillarity, thereby improving the liquid transport capability
from the cold end back to the hot end, and limit the propagation
of dry-out region.
Fig. 4 gives variations of effective thermal conductivity
enhancement ratio with heating power, as reported in the litera-
ture [23,25,27,29,33,35,41,43]. Herein, the effective thermal con-
ductivity enhancement ratio is defined as ðkeff  kSi Þ=kSi in light of
Refs. [23,29,33], indicating the effective thermal conductivity
enhancement between the partially fluid charged and empty
micro-GHPs. All experimental data display an improvement of
the effective thermal conductivity when micro-GHPs were charged
with working fluids because of the vaporization and condensation
occurring in these individual devices. The enhancement differs
greatly for different experiments due to variety of micro-GHP
structure, size, working fluid, and filling ratio. As these micro-
GHPs also varied greatly in experimental conditions, it is difficult
to draw conclusions from this plot and there is no obvious correla-
tion can be derived from it. Nevertheless, it can be seen that these
micro-GHPs featured by novel channel structures, such as more
acute angles and micro-gaps [23] ([23] a and [23] b in Fig. 4 repre-
senting the two structures, respectively), coupled artery [25], and
piecewise parallel channel [41], show greater effective thermal
conductivity enhancements on the whole as compared with that
of polygonal channels [27,29,33,35,43]. This conclusion is also indi-
rectly verified by Ref. [35] as mentioned above, namely the micro-
GHP array with triangular channels ([35] b in Fig. 4) had higher
effective thermal conductivity than that of rectangular channels
([35] a in Fig. 4) because the former is feature by smaller interior
angles.
3.1.2. Theoretical analyses and modelings
The most important micro-GHP design and operation consider-
ation is the capability of transferring the amount of heat. Similar to
larger conventional heat pipes, the maximum heat transport capa-
bility of a micro-GHP is governed by several limiting factors,
among which the capillary limitation is of primary concern. For
proper operations, the capillary pressure difference between the
evaporator and condenser sections should be greater than the total
pressure losses throughout the liquid and vapor flow passages.
Hence, the relationship can be expressed mathematically as
follows
Dpc P Dpl þ Dpv þ Dpg ð2Þ
 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313
Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of micro-GHPs with diverse novel channel structures to enhance capillarity: (a) star grooves micro-GHP [23]; (b) rhombus grooves micro-GHP
[23]; (c) triangular channels coupled with arteries [25]; (d) micro-GHP with vein and two neighboring arteries [39].
Fig. 4. Variations of effective thermal conductivity enhancement ratio with heating
power for MEMS-based micro-GHPs.
where Dpc is the net capillary difference, Dpl and Dpv are the viscous
pressure drops in the liquid phase and vapor phase, respectively,
and Dpg is the hydrostatic pressure drop. Since the gravity force is
usually not taken into account in two-phase micro-devices com-
pared with surface tension, Dpg is usually neglected.
However, the continuous increase of heat transfer rate in a
micro-GHP will significantly increase the pressure loss. If the cap-
illary pressure difference is no longer equal or greater than total
pressure losses, the capillary limitation occurs and becomes the
most commonly encountered limitation with respect to the
micro-GHP performance [46,47], which causes the occurrence of
dry-out at the evaporator section and degrades the thermal perfor-
mance remarkably.
The maximum heat transport capability of a micro-GHP can be
calculated using different formulas. A summary of selective analyt-
ical solutions on the maximum heat transport capability are pro-
vided in Table 3. These equations were used to predict the
299
maximum heat transport capability of micro-GHPs and showed
reasonably good agreements with experimental results at specified
operational conditions. However, applications of these analytical
equations were restricted and effects of liquid-vapor interfacial
shear stress and inner surface wettability/roughness should be
fully considered in analytical models. In addition to the heat trans-
port capability, the onset of dry-out point to determine the wetted
length in micro-GHPs was also theoretically analyzed or predicted
by some researchers [47,54,55].
While several one-dimensional models that predict the heat
transport limitations and operating characteristics of individual
micro-GHPs have been developed [56–59], it is unclear how the
incorporation of an array of these micro-GHPs on a silicon wafer
might affect the temperature distribution and then thermal perfor-
mance. Hence, Mallik et al. [21] developed a 3D numerical model
capable of predicting the thermal performance of an array of par-
allel micro-GHPs constructed as an integral part of semiconductor
chips. The reduction in maximum chip temperature, localized heat
fluxes and maximum temperature gradient across the chip as a
function of the number of micro-GHPs in the array were deter-
mined. Besides, the 3D numerical model was further extended to
determine transient response characteristics of an array of micro-
GHPs and showed significant reductions in the transient response
time, indicating the effectiveness of an array of micro-GHPs in dis-
sipating heat over the entire chip surface and improved heat
removal capability. Suman et al. [47,60,61] have developed several
1D models, which contain the substrate effect, to predict the ther-
mal characteristics of micro-GHPs embedded in silicon wafers.
Although these models are considerable simpler in form and easier
to be implemented than those developed by others [62,63], they
are less accurate since only liquid phase was taken into account
in the model and the interfacial shear stress due to liquid-vapor
frictional interactions for countercurrent flow was neglected,
which would significantly affect the MHP performance [64,65].
Recently, Huang and coworkers [66,67] have developed mathemat-
ical models of triangular micro-GHPs by incorporating the solid
300 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313

Table 3
Summary of analytical equations on the maximum heat transfer capability of micro-GHPs.

Researchers Maximum heat transport capability (Qmax) Remarks

2r q sin u
Babin et al. [49] r eff  l gLHP Leff = 0.5 (Le + Lc)+La
 
ll Cðf R Þl
Leff þ v eV v
KAg hfg ql 2r 2 Av q h
h;v v fg

pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1=2 A0:75

Babin et al. [50] 0:16b K l K v rhfg vl ch;cr b = 2.044, H (LHP) = 0.5, Kl = 0.6, and Kv = 0.975
8pHðLHP Þ vl vv LHP
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1=2
Ha and Peterson [51] 0:16b K l K v rhfg vl At1:5 b = 1.433, H (LHP) = 0.666, Kl = 0.135, and Kv = 0.86
8pHðLHP Þ vl vv LHP
Gerner et al. [52] 3p fg rh D 3
The value of C, a correction factor, was determined to be 2.38 from the
C 2048 v v LHP
experimental data of Babin et al. [51]
Suman and Kumar [53] 2B1 rq 3
1 hfg R0 This formula is applicable to all regular polygons
3B2 LHP ð1þf 2 f 1 Þ h i
B1 ¼ n cotða þ cÞ  u=2 þ cotðaþcÞ sin
cosðaþcÞ sin c
a ;

B2 ¼ lK cos2 ðaþcÞ ðn2Þp

0
a sin a
R0 ¼ 2 cosð aþcÞ, and a ¼ 2n
1
2,
2sin2 a ½cotðaþcÞ cosðaþcÞ sin cþcotðaþcÞu=2
sin a
 
h
 i
Shukla [48] pr 3i b2 rhfg
2 If the cross section is an equilateral triangle, b2 = 0.6533
8LHP mv 1  23 b2 þ 15 b4 þ 2b12 pvrri ð1 þ cv Ma2v Þð1  b2 Þ

wall conduction together with the mass, momentum, and energy keeping away from the earlier appearance of dry-out, Qu et al.
conservations of liquid and vapor phases. Numerical results indi- [73] proposed to create wettability gradients on the inner wall
cated that a micro-GHP fabricated by solid wall with higher ther- along the longitudinal direction of a micro-GHP. In their theoretical
mal conductivity outperforms one with lower thermal model, a triangular micro-GHP was characterized by a functional
conductivity, revealing the necessity of device material with high inner surface, with the evaporator, adiabatic section, and con-
thermal conductivity. denser having different surface wettabilities and hence different
contact angles. The contact angle decreases from the condenser
3.1.3. Novel designs for performance improvement to the evaporator, thereby enhancing the heat transfer capacity.
According to the working principle of traditional micro-GHPs, The results revealed that, compared with that of a uniform surface
the liquid backflow is stemmed from a difference in the radius of wettability, the surface with an optimal gradient wettability
curvature between the hot and cold parts. Therefore, its heat trans- increases the maximum heat throughput up to 49.7%. Similar work
fer capacity is less than that of a conventional heat pipe having has recently been performed by Singh et al. [74] and obtained
wicking structures. However, the simple design and direct integra- almost the same conclusion. Based on the concept of gradient sur-
tion on silicon wafers make micro-GHPs own quick-cooling capa- face to enhance the heat transfer capacity of micro-GHPs, it was
bility of electronic devices. Active and passive attempts have recently experimentally tested and verified in larger versions by
been made in the past to increase the heat transport capability of Hu et al. [75] and Cheng et al. [76].
micro-GHPs.
By applying an electric field at the liquid-vapor interface, pres- 3.2. Micro capillary pumped loops (CPLs) and micro loop heat pipes
sure difference can be increased if the working fluid is dielectric in (LHPs)
nature. Then, the aiding effect of electric force increases the circu-
lation rate of working fluid and hence significant enhancement in In most of GHPs, the liquid-vapor frictional interactions due to
the heat transfer capacity of micro-GHP. Table 4 lists several exper- countercurrent flow result in additional pressure drop and degrade
imental tests and theoretical analyses about the benefits of electro- the heat transfer performance. If the shear force at the vapor-liquid
hydrodynamic (EHD) force on the micro-GHP performance. It was interface is removed, the maximum heat transport capability could
theoretically validated that the heat transport capability of a be increased remarkably [77]. Consequently, two types of two-
micro-GHP could be increased by several to 100 times after the phase loop devices, CPLs and LHPs, emerge and are considered as
introduction of static electric fields. desirable alternative solutions since they have separated liquid
According to Daniel et al. [72], when the wettability gradient is and vapor flow paths as compared with GHPs and hence not being
established on a silicon substrate surface, self-motion of liquid dro- subject to interfacial shear stresses. Although both of these two
plets could be achieved and small drops move hundreds to thou- heat transfer devices need wicks (mainly in the evaporator) for
sand of times faster than the speed of typical Marangoni flow. To operation, they can sustain quite high heat flux. Actually, the CPL
provide enough capillary pressure to collect more working fluid structure is very similar to an LHP, except that the former has a
at the evaporator passively and enlarge the capillary limitation, remote reservoir instead of a compensation chamber [78]. The

Table 4
Summary of heat transfer capability enhancement of micro-GHPs when external electric field was applied.

Researchers Heat transfer capability of EHD micro-GHPs Remarks


Yu et al. [68] e e 2
r The heat transport capability of the EHD micro-GHPs is increased by up to six times
2ð l  v ÞE þ rc;e rc;c
1 1 1
12ll Lslug f v Reh;v lv Leff f l Reh;l ll Leff
,M¼ wa3 ql k
þ 2r 2h;v Av qv k
þ of that of conventional ones
M 2C 1 ðCC 2 re;c Þ4 ql k

Yu et al. [69] – The EHD micro-GHPs can permit active thermal control of sources subject to
transient heat loads and make the temperature control more precise
h
i
Suman [70] pdl ql hfg
4
The overall vapor pressure drop was neglected. The maximum heat transport
128ll LHP ql gLHP sinðbÞ  12 E2 ðev  el Þ þ q0 V þ rl R1e  R10
capability can be increased by 100 times using an electric field
Chang and Hung [71] – At a favorably applied voltage of 30 V, the heat transport capacity of a silicone
micro-GHP charged with 104 M of NaCl aqueous solution can be increased up to
4.4 times

The symbol ‘‘–” in Table 4 means that there is no analytical solution.

 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313 301

physical proximity of reservoir to the evaporator, which is con-
nected by the use of a secondary wick, facilitates the LHP start-
up and makes it operation vapor-tolerant, enhancing system
robustness under various conditions.
To obtain higher heat transfer coefficients and heat transfer sur-
face areas per unit flow volume, micro-CPLs and micro-LHPs,
directly embedded in silicon wafer or fabricated partially by MEMS
techniques, have been designed with smaller hydraulic diameters
and micro wicks in recent years.
3.2.1. Micro capillary pumped loops
In 1999, a conceptual micro-CPL as illustrated in Fig. 5(a) was
designed and tested by Kirshberg et al. [79]. The evaporator, con-
denser, reservoir, liquid/vapor lines and access holes were all
etched onto silicon wafer, while the wicking structure consisting
of axial grooves located at both of the evaporator and condenser
were etched onto the glass, serving as a cover-plate to allow visu-
alization of fluid movement in the micro device. It is believed that
this micro device could support extremely high temperature gradi-
ents because of its small size. Kirshberg et al. [80] further devel-
oped a second generation micro-CPL as schematically shown in
Fig. 5(b). Compared with the first-generation prototype, some
adjustments were made in the new micro-CPL, including the
increase of evaporator size, the improvement of filling process with
an additional port, the improvement of connection between the
reservoir and the evaporator, and additional access for thermocou-
ples. The evaporator was heated up using a CO2 laser to test the
heat transport capability of this second-generation micro-CPL
and demonstrated reasonable performance. Test results showed
that the micro-CPL enabled a backside temperature reduction of
7 °C at a laser power input of 7.5 W with a 1 mm spot size over
the heating section [81].
Meyer et al. [82] designed and fabricated two micro-CPLs
directly into the SiC substrate to evaluate the thermal control capa-
bility, with a much larger area of the condenser in comparison with
that of the evaporator. Experimental testing showed that larger
widths of the liquid and vapor lines of the micro device contributed
to higher heat removal capability. A heat flux as high as about
200 W/cm2 was achieved at the evaporator of micro-CPL, while it
could only remove 10 W/cm2 to provide sufficient cooling at the
condenser. The high heat removal capability of micro-CPL was also
verified by Wang et al. [83] using a micro-CPL characterized by
area sizes of 3.42 mm  1.5 mm and 7.46 mm  5 mm at the evap-
orator and condenser, respectively. The micro device started up
successfully and dry-out did not occur until the heat flux reached
185.2 W/cm2 at an evaporator temperature of 165 °C, demonstrat-
ing good potential for effective cooling of high heat flux devices. To
prevent backflow of vapor bubbles, a micro-CPL with two staged
grooves in the evaporator instead of poles were designed by Moon
and Hwang [84], the thermal testing showed that the micro device
could transfer heat of 8.5 W without dry-out. All of the geometric
parameters, device materials, and heat removal capabilities of
aforementioned micro-CPLs are summarized in Table 5.
In addition to the micro-CPL directly integrated on silicon
wafer, an integrated CPL fabricated using two glass wafer layers
and one silicon wafer layer as shown in Fig. 6 was developed by
Jung et al. [85]. An array of 56  56 cone-shaped micro-holes
(see Fig. 6(c)) that generated capillary forces was fabricated and
inserted above the compensation cavity for liquid transportation
and acted as micro wicks. The same cone-shaped microstructure
was used in the condenser to create a stable interface between liq-
uid and vapor phases. At an allowable temperature of about 110 °C
on the evaporator surface, the micro device was able to handle a
cooling heat flux of 6.22 W/cm2 with a natural convection mode
at the condenser region.

Fig. 5. Schematic of the first-generation micro-CPL (a) and second generation micro-CPL (b) [81].

Table 5
Summary of geometric parameters, device materials, and heat removal capabilities of micro-CPL systems.

Refs. [79] [80] [82] [82] [83] [84]

Evaporator area – 2.0  106 lm2 2000 lm  1070 lm 2000 lm  1070 lm 3.42 mm  1.5 mm 9 mm  10 mm
Condenser area 2.5  105 lm2 2.0  106 lm2 5070 lm  7500 lm 5070 lm  7500 lm 7.46 mm  1.5 mm 10 mm  20 mm
Vapor line area – 35 mm  450 lm 19.9 mm  460 lm 33.8 mm  460 lm 20 mm  460 lm 20 mm  2000 lm
Liquid line area – 35 mm  150 lm 33.43 m  160 lm 47.3 mm  160 lm 20 mm  160 lm 35 mm  250 lm
Vapor/liquid line depth 150 lm 150 lm 150 lm 150 lm 150 lm 500 lm
Groove area of the evaporator 1000 lm  50 lm 2000 lm  50 lm 2000 lm  22 lm 2000 lm  22 lm 4.5 mm  30 lm 9 mm  20 lm
Groove area of the condenser – – 5070 lm  22 lm 5070 lm  22 lm 7.46 mm  30 lm 10 mm  20 lm
Groove depth 50 lm 50 lm 30 lm 30 lm 30 lm 60 lm  20 lm
Groove numbers of the 4/4 7/13 8/41 8/41 8/25 167/–
evaporator/condenser
Material Si Si SiC SiC Si Si
Heat removal capability 3.2 W 4W 4.8 W 3.5 W 8 W 8.5 W

The symbol ‘‘–” in Table 5 means that there is no data.

302 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313
Fig. 6. Photograph (a) and schematic (b) view of a CPL with microcone-shaped
capillary structure, and microcapillary structured silicon wafer (c) [85].
3.2.2. Micro loop heat pipes
Due to the structural similarity, an LHP can also be fabricated
into the silicon substrate and transport high heat fluxes. Hsu
et al. [86] presented the conceptual design and fabricated a
silicon-based micro-LHP. The micro-LHP had a symmetrical struc-
ture with an overall size of 60 mm  33 mm  0.8 mm. The lowest
thermal resistance of the micro-LHP was as small as 0.106 °C/W, 64
times lower than that without working fluid, indicating its high
performance.
Based upon the coherent porous silicon (CPS) technology, a
planar MEMS-based LHP was developed by Cytrynowicz et al.
[87–89]. As illustrated in Fig. 7(a), the device consisted of an
evaporator, a condenser, a liquid reservoir, separate liquid/vapor
transport lines, and primary/secondary porous wicks. Inside the
evaporator, there was a CPS wicking structure, which maintained
the separation of the liquid/vapor phases as illustrated in Fig. 7
(b). The CPS wick in the evaporator had thousands of pores with
diameter ranging from 2 to 20 lm, providing several advantages
over the commercial cylindrical LHP evaporator, such as flat evap-
orator shape, various pore design shapes, and compact size. Also,
an integrated cooling system within the electronic panel or device
could be built because the CPS wick was etched in silicon. Accord-
ing to the theoretical prediction, the cooling capability of this
micro device was greater than 300 W/cm2 [87].
To predict the thermal performance of planar micro-LHP pro-
totype, a hybrid CFD-mathematical model was developed by Gha-
jar et al. [91]. Later, the model was modified by Ghajar and Darabi
[92] to predict the evaporator temperature distribution as a func-
tion of applied heat load, ambient temperature and geometry by
assuming a typical evaporative heat transfer coefficient. Accord-
ing to their simulation results, a heat removal capability up to
150 W/cm2 was achieved at a maximum surface temperature of
100 °C. Based on their previous works, Ghajar and Darabi [93]
recently developed a new model for micro-LHP with rectangular
capillary grooves using principles of thin film evaporation to pre-
dict the evaporation heat transfer coefficient. This model pre-
dicted the measured evaporator temperature with good
accuracy. The length of wetted evaporating region could also be
well estimated.
3.3. Micro oscillating heat pipes
The oscillating heat pipe (OHP), or pulsating heat pipe (PHP) is
normally made from a serpentine-arranged, interconnected capil-
lary tube. There are two main types of OHP, open and closed loop,
which are classified according to whether or not the two ends of an
OHP connect. Compared to conventional heat pipes, there is no
wicking structures in OHPs and thus also attracted considerable
attention recent years to be integrated with semiconductor chips
similar to aforementioned MEMS-based MHPs.
Qu et al. [94–96] designed and fabricated several micro-OHPs
on silicon wafers as shown in Fig. 8. The simultaneous flow visual-
ization and temperature measurement demonstrated that these
micro-OHPs could operate normally with sustained oscillatory
flow and had good thermal performance. Later, some other exper-
imental tests were performed [97–101] as listed in Table 6
together with the works by Qu et al. [94–96].
The thermo-physical properties of working fluid used in a
micro-OHP largely affect the motion of liquid-vapor interfaces
and then heat transfer performance. Considering the ultra-high
flow resistance of capillary slug flow in micro-OHPs as compared
to larger versions [102], the driving potential which facilitates
the startup and then robust oscillating motions should be the pri-
mary factor among the several thermo-physical properties. There-
fore, it is desirable to choose a working fluid with high value of (dp/
dT)sat due to the profound importance for micro-OHP startup via
creating larger pressure fluctuations at small temperature rise.
Fig. 9 gives the temperature- dependent saturation pressure of
some candidate working fluids suitable for micro-OHPs. For a
micro-OHP with a small channel dimension, the refrigerant, such
as R141b and R123 is preferable because of large values of satura-
tion pressure gradient (dp/dT)sat in the operating (temperature)
range.
Table 7 provides important thermo-physical properties at
saturated state of possible working fluids for micro-OHPs that
most likely affect the performance. In addition to the fluids
given in Fig. 9, refrigerant R134a and ammonia are also rec-
ommended for this micro device utilized for cryogenic
applications.
Most recently, Qu et al. [103] have developed a theoretical
model to predict the lower limit of internal diameter (LLID) of
micro-OHPs, which is expressed in dimensionless form as
 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313
Fig. 7. Schematics of a LHP [88] (a) and the micro-columnated CPS wicking structure [90] (b).
Fig. 8. Photograph of silicon-based micro-PHPs [95].
WeH  2ð1  uÞ
D þ mBo2 sin b
EcJa 1  qv =ql
P 32ð1  uÞð2m þ L Þ ½Ca þ 0:104ð1  uÞ0:893 u0:05 Re0:405 Ca0:7387 
1  u ½ð2m  1ÞK 180 þ 2K 90 
þ WeD
u 2
In Eq. (3), the operating characteristic and design criterion of
OHPs are fully considered, and the pressure loss mainly focused
on the two-phase pressure drops of capillary slug flow and the
local pressure loss due to meandering at the U-bend. As to a
micro-OHP, however, the gravitational effect on the device perfor-
mance is reduced remarkably, especially for the closed-end type
with a relatively large turn number [101]. In addition, slug/ bubble
oscillating motions in a micro-OHP system are mainly restricted in
each straight channel, and thus the local bending pressure loss
303
could also be ignored. Consequently, Eq. (3) can further be simpli-
fied as
WeH 
D P 32ð1  uÞð2m þ L Þ ½Ca
EcJa
þ 0:104ð1  uÞ0:893 u0:05 Re0:405 Ca0:7387  ð4Þ
Numerical results from Eq. (4) further indicated that R123 or
R141b characterized by high (dp/dT)sat are well suited for micro-
OHP devices.
Fundamentally, a cavity on the wall of a given size serves as a
nucleation site for the nucleate boiling. If the surface roughness
of a heated wall is about several micrometers (rely on the fluid
type), the heterogeneous nucleation induced bubbles could be con-
tinuously generated from nucleation sites at relatively low degrees
of superheat in pool boiling [104]. However, Kandlikar et al. [105]
underlined that the wall superheats at the onset of nucleate boiling
are quite high in microchannels, even in the presence of
appropriate-sized cavities. Moreover, the microfabrication tech-
nology ensures a perfectly smooth channel surface for silicon-
ð3Þ based micro devices, especially the wall roughness of a wet-
etched silicon channel, which could be as small as about several
nanometers. As a result, the inner wall temperature should be well
above the saturated temperature to induce bubble nucleation in
micro-OHP channels in light of the theoretical heterogeneous
nucleation temperature developed by Li and Cheng [106]. Besides,
although the liquid film or slugs moved from the cold end to the
hot end during oscillating motion, the wetting and rewetting pro-
cess could not effectively replenish the film evaporation at the
evaporator section. Then, the early occurrence of dry-out would
result in a quick increase in the evaporator wall temperature and
304 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313

Table 6
Summary of experimental investigations of silicon-based micro-OHPs.

Working fluid Cross section shape and Channel Charging ratio Remarks Refs.
dimension (top (bottom) type/turn
width  depth, lm2) number
FC-72 and Trapezoidal (820 (294)  303) Uniform/7 41% and 58% No obvious nucleation was observed at the startup period. These micro- [94]
R113 and 5 OHPs could sustain self- oscillation at an inclination angle range from
10° to 90°
R113 and FC- Trapezoidal (266 (618)  201, Uniform/5, 0–73% Optimum filling ratios of 52%, 55% and 47% were obtained with respect [95]
72 820 (294)  303) and (1020 7 and 5 to the best thermal performance of the three micro-OHPs, respectively,
(485)  303) at the vertical orientation. Intense liquid film evaporation, instead of
bubble generation and expansion drove the pulsating two-phase flow
R113 and FC- Trapezoidal (820 (294)  303) Uniform/ 7 41–58% For the FC-72 charged micro-OHP at filling ratios of 42% and 55%, [96]
72 maximum reductions in the evaporator wall temperature of 29.8 and
32.8 °C, respectively, were obtained at a power input of 6.3 W compared
to that of an empty device. The corresponding maximum temperature
reductions were 42.1 and 41.9 °C when charged with R113 at filling
ratios of 41% and 58%, respectively.
Ethanol Rectangular (1000  400) Uniform/5 50% The frequency and amplitude of the liquid oscillation in the micro-PHP [97]
are 0.67 Hz and 15 mm, respectively, at the best thermal performance. A
maximum effective thermal conductivity of 600 W/(m K) was achieved
HFE-7100 Rectangular (uniform, Uniform/4 59.3% (uniform) Only the micro-OHP containing alternate channels could start up and [98]
800  250; non-uniform, and non- and 61.5% (non- operated horizontally at the highest heating power input of 7 W. Sine-
1000  250 and 600  250) uniform/4 uniform) like oscillating displacement of the vapor slug was observed both in the
uniform and alternate channel micro-OHPs at relatively lower heating
power inputs
DI water and Rectangular (500  250 and Non- 80% The water-charged micro-OHPs failed to create a pulsating two-phase [99]
methanol 300  250) uniform /32 flow, whereas the methanol-charged micro-PHP with non-uniform
channel could operate well and exhibit better thermal performance
Ethanol and Rectangular ((1000–1800)  Non- 50% The micro-PHP with dual-diameter channel could operate independent [100]
FC-72 500 and (1000–200)  500) uniform /5 of the orientation and have better thermal performance than that with
uniform channel. The effective thermal conductivity of the micro-PHP
with five dual-diameter pairs was as high as 905 W/(m K)
Ethanol Rectangular (1000  500) Uniform/5, 50% The closed-end micro-PHP has higher effective thermal conductivity [101]
10, 15, 20 than that of the closed-loop micro-PHP when the turn number is greater
than 5. Besides, the former’s performance is more orientation-
independent than the latter

make the micro device fails to work. Hence, in order to reduce the
startup power, lower the operating temperature, and enlarge heat
transfer limit of a micro-OHP, surface modification by creating
nano- or micro/nano hierarchical structures in the hot and cold
parts as depicted in Section 4 is a viable solution.

3.4. Micro vapor chambers

Generally, conventional heat pipes are one-dimensional heat

Fig. 9. Saturation pressure versus temperature for various working fluids.
transfer devices, namely they can only transfer heat along the axial
direction of an individual heat pipe. To overcome this deficiency,
vapor chamber (VC) capable of distributing heat over a two-
dimensional surface have been proposed by Peterson et al. [107].
Vapor chamber, or called flat-plate heat pipe, is composed of a
closed container in which inner walls are covered with wicks,
grooves, or sintered metal powders and its evaporator and con-
denser are on two opposite sides as illustrated in Fig. 10. Due to
the uniform temperature distribution and much larger condensa-
tion area, VCs are normally utilized for spreading high local heat

Table 7
Saturated thermo-physical properties of different working liquids at 1 atm (all values determined at 25 °C unless otherwise specified).

Fluid Tsat (°C) ql (kg/m3) kl  103 (W/(m K)) cp,l (kJ/(kg K)) gl  106 (kg/(m s)) r  103 (N/m) hfg (kJ/kg)
Ethanol 78.2 785.4 165 2.57 1084 21.8 921.6
Methanol 64.4 786.2 201 2.53 543 22.3 1169
Acetone 56.3 784.6 – 2.14 – 23.0 534.2
FC-72 56.6 1680 570 1.1 640 10 88.0
R113 47.5 1563 66 0.92 653 17.2 151.3
R141b 32 1233.8 90 1.15 408 18.2 226.1
R123 27.7 1463.9 76 1.02 418 15.2 171.4
R134a 26.2 1342.8 99 1.30 325 13.8 209.5
Ammonia 33.4 658.6 606 4.54 201.7 37.1 1313.1

Note that the saturated thermo-physical properties of R134a and ammonia are determined at 15 °C. In addition, the symbol ‘‘–” in Table 7 means that there is no data.
 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313 305

dry-out, and therefore improving the device performance, which

will be discussed in Section 4.

3.5. Polymer heat pipes

To data most of MEMS-based MHPs were fully or partially con-

Fig. 10. Schematic of a vapor chamber.
flux largely greater than the capillary-limited heat input associated
with large surface superheat and possible incipience of boiling in
wicking structures of conventional heat pipes [19].
Although the thickness of an ultra-thin VC could be comparable
to a credit card, the wick fabrication process available in a metal VC
may imperil the integration and packaging of semiconductor chips.
To meet the chip-level demand, persistent efforts have been made
to develop novel micro VC technologies capable of removing large
amount of heat from chips or improving the temperature unifor-
mity as provided in Table 8.
Similar to micro-GHPs, the capillary limitation is also consid-
ered as the primary focus to heat transfer in the micro-VC [114–
116]. Therefore, the capillary characteristics of wicking structures
have a great impact on the heat transport limitation of micro-
VCs associated with orientation-dependence and gravity condition.
Essentially, a wicking structure directly reflects the mass transport
capability. As a consequence, various wicks with the typical size
ranging from hundred micrometers to even down to several
nanometers [117] were provided and tested to pursue maximum
heat flux coupled with lower superheat and late occurrence of
structed using rigid materials such as silicon wafer due to its ben-
efits of easy fabrication, high thermal conductivity, high strength
and material compatibility with semiconductor chip. However,
flexible and non-electrically conductive heat pipes for some special
applications are very limited. Polymers have recently been consid-
ered as a possible candidate material to develop flexible heat pipes
due to their major advantages of flexibility, lightweight, chemical
resistance and electrical insulating characteristics [118]. Also,
MEMS-compatible fabrication processes make polymer heat pipes
very suitable for simple incorporation in electronics packaging
[119,120]. In 2001, a flexible polymer heat pipe with grooved wick-
ing structures was developed by McDaniels and Peterson [121] and
a high thermal conductivity of about 740 W/(m K) was achieved.
Polymer heat pipes as shown in Fig. 11 have great potential for
thermal management of aerospace and terrestrial electronics
according to experimental investigations [17,122–138]. Table 9
lists published papers about experimental investigations of poly-
mer heat pipes in recent years. A little less than half of these poly-
mer heat pipes, as shown in Fig. 12, are exhibited in the form of flat
heat pipes or thermal ground planes (TGPs), and other five types of
heat pipes, including MHP array, PHP, LHP, cylindrical heat pipe,
and wickless heat pipe, add up to about the other half. To fabricate
polymer heat pipes, various polymers such as polypropylene [121],
liquid-crystal polymers [122,123,136], polyethylene terephthalate
[17,124], FR4 [125], polypropylene [126], polyurethane [127],
polyimide [128–130], fluororubber [131,132], silicone rubber
[133], polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) [134,135], and acrylic

Table 8
Summary of experimental investigations of micro-VCs.

Material, shape and overall Charging Wicking structure Remarks Refs.

size
Methanol Silicon-glass, square,
48 mm  48 mm  0.65 mm
Methanol Silicon-glass, square,
48 mm  48 mm  0.64 mm
Water Silico-glass, hexagonal,
hexagon edge length of
10 mm (total surface area of
2.0 cm2), 2 mm thick
Water and Siliocn-glass, square,
ethanol 38 mm  38 mm  3 mm
Water Siliocn-glass, rectangle,
35 mm  40 mm  1.525 mm
Water Titanium, square,
30 mm  30 mm  0.6 mm
Water Silicon-glass, square,
45 mm  16 mm  1.5 mm
ratio or
mass
– Two wicks were fabricated using An effective thermal conductivity of about twice [108]
silicon dicing saw and deep plasma that of copper was achieved
etching techniques, respectively
25% Wick pattern prepared with An effective thermal conductivity more than five [109]
bidirectional saw cuts on a silicon times that of silicon was achieved at a high
wafer surface. Chemically etched temperature (50 °C) and a heat flux level of 15 W/
orthogonal, triangular groove wick cm2
Charging Pillar-like silicon array. Wick structures A maximum 300 W/cm2 cooling capacity with [110]
mass varies on the hexcell sidewalls were 35 °C superheat was achieved on a 2 mm  2 mm
from 0.1 to rectangular microgrooves heating area
0.2 cc
Charging Fine and coarse pillared wicks were Charged with ethanol, the micro-VC could [30]
mass varies used on the evaporator and condenser maintain high efficient heat transfer at different
from 1.0 to inner surfaces, respectively orientations and high-gravity environment. High
1.2 cm3 effective thermal conductivity over 2500 W/(m K)
was achieved
27% and 32% Micro pin fin and pin fin array The thermal resistance of pin fin vapor chamber [111]
was about 52–60% of the solid silicon, while the
corresponding thermal resistance of pin fin array
was only 17–20% of the solid silicon
About 60 lL Micro-pillar array with the surfaces An effective thermal conductivity of 350 W/m K [112]
covered by hairlike nanostructured was achieved under a heat load of 7.2 W with the
titania hot side temperature of 105.4 °C
30% Micro-pillary array The MHP with a cover plate covered by shell- [113]
shaped patterns had lower evaporator temperature
and better temperature uniformity than the one
with unpatterned cover. Besides, the evaporator
temperature difference between these two types of
MHP was 7.8 °C at an input power of 5 W

The symbol ‘‘–” in Table 8 means that there is no data.

306 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313
Fig. 11. Various flexible polymer heat pipe prototypes: (a) [129]; (b) [128]; (c) [130]; (d) [136]; (e) [138].
polymer [137] have been utilized as encasing materials. As for the
working fluid, DI water is the primary choice. Besides, diverse
wicking structures such as the copper mesh [125,133], micropillar
(Fig. 13(a)) [128], microgrooves (Fig. 13(b)) [126], triple-layer sin-
tered copper mesh (Fig. 13(c) [17], hybrid copper micropillar/wo-
ven mesh (Fig. 13(d) and (e)) [122,123,128], copper mesh with
multi-scale micro/nano-structures (Fig. 13(f)) [127,131], combined
grooves with sintered copper mesh [136] and micromembrane
[139] were designed and tested. Since wicks act as a crucial role
for ultra-thin polymer heat pipes and novel structure for both liq-
uid and vapor flow should be developed to reduce the vapor flow
dragging effect particularly when the heat transfer rate increases.
Right now, it is the mainstream to develop and use hybrid or
multi-scale wicking structures to achieve drag reduction and cap-
illary evaporation enhancement simultaneously.
4. Nano and micro/nano hierarchical capillary wicking
structures
Nowadays, advances in nanotechnology and surface treatment
technology make it possible to create micro/nanostructured sur-
face cost-effectively, and thus notably enlarging the possibility to
design and produce nano-sized wicking structures available for
MHPs. Compared with bare surfaces, nano-structured materials
have been reported to improve different aspects of the boiling
and evaporation process (e.g., incipience, nucleation boiling, thin-
film evaporation, and CHF) via nano-porous surface coatings
[140–144] (Fig. 14(a)–(d)), copper nanowire (NW) [145–147]
(Fig. 14(e)) and silicon NW [148–152] (Fig. 14(f)) surface coatings,
carbon nanotube (CNT) coatings on silicon wafers [153–157]
(Fig. 14(g) and (h)) and metal substrates [158,159], and titania
(Ti) nanostructure coated on Ti pillar (Fig. 14(i)) [112,160]. To
increase the heat pipe capacity and resist dry-out at higher power
levels or maximize the heat flux, much efforts have been devoted
to wick design innovation and optimization to provide maximum
capillary pumping while increasing the evaporation thin film
region of meniscus. As a result, in addition to aforementioned
artificial micro wicks (such as micro-pillars or micro-fins) intro-
duced in Section 3.4, nano-sized wicking structures (see Fig. 14)
such as CNT and metal or silicon NWs were also developed and
evaluated for serving as capillary wicks because of some desirable
characteristics.
Although pores of CNT and NW arrays may provide orders of
magnitude larger capillary pressure than conventional micro-
wicks, the low permeability of the array also prevents fluid from
being supplied to the entire surface, resulting in a starved wick
with poor performance even at moderate heat inputs. To overcome
the difficulties posed by the low nano-wick permeability, the hier-
archical nano- and micro-structured capillary wick design under
the inspiration stemmed from nature [161,162] was recently pro-
posed to achieve high permeability and capillary action simultane-
ously, therefore highly improving effective evaporation
characteristics [163]. Such a design for the wicking structure is
bio-inspired by the use of biporous wicking structures [164–167]
(Fig. 14(h)–(l)) and integrated nano-structured wicking surfaces
[168–170] (Fig. 14(m)) to enhance wick permeability and reduce
its thermal resistance. As for these novel wicks, the thin film evap-
oration on liquid-vapor interfaces, capillary enhanced liquid return
mechanism, as well as rapid vapor ventilation are still key points
that should be concerned.
5. Applications of MEMS-based micro heat pipes
MEMS-based MHPs are of potential applications in electronic,
aerospace, chemical, and biological engineering in large scale.
Diverse applications, especially in microelectronics, require
small-sized, reliable cooling system with excellent heat transfer
performance. MEMS-based MHPs can be placed in direct contact
with, or integrated directly into the micro-processor, sensor, or
other electronic chips for which cooling is required and can main-
tain an acceptable temperature range.
Adkins et al. [171] discussed the use of a micro-GHP array
embedded directly onto a silicon substrate as an alternative to
the conductive cooling of integrated circuits using diamond films.
 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313 307

Table 9
Summary of experimental investigations of polymer heat pipes.

Heat pipe type Encasing material Wicking structure Working fluid Performance (thermal conductivity or thermal Refs.
resistance)
MHP arrays Polypropylene Micro-grooves Water 740 W/(m K) [121]
Flat heat pipe Liquid-crystal Hybrid copper Degassed distilled water 650–830 W/(m K) [122]
polymer micropillar/woven
mesh
Flat heat pipe Liquid crystal Hybrid copper Degassed distilled water The maximum value is 1653 W/(m K) (0 g) and the [123]
polymer micropillar/woven minimum value is 436 W/(m K) (10 g)
mesh
Flat heat pipe Polyethylene Triple-layer sintered Degassed distilled water 0.66 K/W [17]
terephthalate copper mesh
Pulsating heat Polyethylene No wick HFE-7000 10.10 K/W [124]
pipe terephthalate
Flat heat pipe FR4 Copper mesh Degassed distilled water The thermal resistances are 3.86, 3.84 and 4.45 K/W, for [125]
tilt angles of +90° (bottom heated), 0° and 90° (top
heated), respectively
Cylindrical heat Polyurethane Copper mesh with DI water The thermal resistances are as low as 0.013, 0.01, and [126]
pipe bioinspired 0.008 K/W at power inputs of 8, 10, and 12 W,
hierarchical respectively, when the heat pipe tube is straight
micro/nano-
structures
TGP Polyimide Micropillar Degassed distilled water 541 W/(m K) [127]
TGP Polyimide Hybrid copper DI water The lowest thermal resistance is only 1/3 that of an [128]
micropillar/woven equivalently sized copper heat spreader
mesh
Wickless heat Polyimide No wick Water, 1-Butanol aqueous The thermal performance of the panels was enhanced [130]
pipe panels solutions (1.5 wt%, 3.0 wt%), 1- with the reduced gravity
with single- or Heptanol aqueous solution
multi-channel (0.1 wt%)
Cylindrical heat Fluororubber Copper mesh with DI water Bending leads to larger thermal resistances. Without [131]
pipe bioinspired bending at 20% filling ratio, the thermal resistance
hierarchical decreased from 0.42 K/W at 6 W, to 0.16 K/W at 8 W,
micro/nano- 0.12 K/W at 10 W, and 0.09 K/W at 12 W
structures
OHP Fluororubber at the Heating and cooling Water The Flexible OHP could function well and exhibited [132]
adiabatic section sections made of highly spatial flexibility and acceptable heat transfer
micro-grooved performance
copper tubes
Flat heat pipe Silicone rubber Copper mesh DI water The heat pipe had the best thermal performance at a [133]
15° bend, including the 0° bent corresponding to the
minimum overall thermal resistance of about 5 K/W at
a maximum heat power of 12.7 W
OHP Polydimethylsiloxane No wick Methanol and ethanol The thermal resistance for methanol is lower than that [134]
of ethanol. The thermal resistance for methanol is
reduced to 4.5 K/W at a heating power of 3 W
OHP Polydimethylsiloxane No wick Ethanol and Al2O3/ethanol Al2O3 nanoparticles and electric field cannot affect the [135]
nanofluid heat transfer performance of the PDMS OHP
Flat heat pipe Liquid-crystal Combined grooves DI water and acetone The thermal resistance of the heat pipe could be [136]
polymer with sintered copper approximately 1.02 K/W at 10.3 W power input
mesh
LHP Acrylic polymer Small pores Ethanol Lower overall temperature and improve temperature [137]
uniformity

temperature and improve the temperature uniformity across these

Fig. 12. Ratio of different types of polymer heat pipes.
These parallel MHPs function as high efficiency heat spreaders, col-
lecting heat from localized hot spots and dissipating them over the
entire chip surface. Incorporation of these MHPs on silicon wafers
has been shown to significantly reduce the maximum wafer
devices. Most recently, Luo et al. [172] tested the cooling capability
of a silicon-aluminum MHP on a high-power light emitting diode
(LED) module of 1.5 W. Experimental results indicated that this
micro device can make the LED module work at acceptable tem-
perature uniformity, providing a promising prospect in the applica-
tion of lamp’s high density package.
Currently, mobile systems, e.g., smart phones and tablet PCs as
shown in Fig. 15(a), are widely used and becoming a handy
replacement of traditional PCs or notebooks. These devices com-
prise many high-heat-generating components and have been
miniaturized and designed for high-density packaging. The com-
plex thermal behavior due to their usage under various environ-
ments affects their reliability and usability. The ever-increasing
thermal management challenge demands of these mobile electron-
ics provide great opportunities for MEMS-based MHPs to distribute
heat evenly in these devices. Besides, the innovative wearable elec-
tronics such as smart watches or smart bands (Fig. 15(b) and (c))
308 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313

Fig. 13. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of different wicking structure: (a) micropillar arrays (left) and vapor core posts and vapor wick pillar array (right) [128];
(b) rectangular microgrooves [126]; (c) triple-layer sintered copper mesh (coated by an atomic layer deposited Al2O3/SiO2 bi-layer) [17]; (d) hybrid wicking structure
consisting of a woven copper mesh bonded the top surface of copper micropillars [123]; (e) pillar arrays (top) and woven copper mesh (bottom) [129]; (f) hydrophilic copper
mesh after treatment with strong bases [127]; (g) micromembrane-enhanced microchannel wicks [139].

can also work as a quasi-smart phone because they can run apps
via the mobile devices nearby or on itself. Obviously, the user
wears a smart watch or band much longer than holds a smart
phone. In addition to the electronic performance and battery life
and security, the thermal safety is the most common concern
because of direct contact to skin, and MHPs are one of the possible
options for cooling solutions [173]. Apart from above mobile elec-
tronic devices, the rapid development of flexible display technol-
ogy (Fig. 15(d)) integrated with mobile or wearable devices such
as organic light emitting diode (OLED) also gives rise to thermal
management requirements. The material compatibility makes
polymer heat pipes a viable option for heat extraction and support
the OLED device scale towards large-area products. However, the
thickness of these micro coolers has to be further reduced and
become extremely thin as low as about 100–500 lm to compete
with other cooling solutions.
The thermal management of localized heat generating devices
such as concentrated solar cells, laser diodes, infrared detectors,
micro fuel cells and thermal energy harvesting devices is also pos-
sible fields where MEMS-based MHPs are applicable for heat dissi-
pation due to tremendous advantages of ultra-compact structure,
high reliability, and being self-contained and self-started. With
the quick-cooling capability, MEMS-based MHPs can provide the
right answer to customers for a wide range of applications under
different gravity conditions.
In addition to aforementioned engineering or commercial
applications, the biological field associated with human disease
remedy is another potential aspect for MEMS-based MHPs. As
 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313 309

Fig. 14. SEM images of nano and micro/nano hierarchical wicking structure: (a) alumina aluminum oxide nano-porous surface [140]; (b) alumina oxide honeycomb
nanostructure [142]; (c) platinum coated nano-porous membranes [143]; (d) nano-cavities [144]; (e) Cu nanowires [149]; (f) Si nanowires [149]; (g) CNT array showing a
periodically repeating pattern of cylindrical voids [155]; (h) bi-porous wick structure consists of CNT pillar forests [156]; (h) bi-porous wick structure consists of Ti pillar
coated with nanostructured titania [112]; (j) Cu monolayer powder and nanostructures formed on the surfaces (inset) [166]; (k) Cu microposts and nanostructures formed on
the surfaces (inset) [166]; (l) CuO micropillar and nanostructures formed on the surfaces (inset) [167]; (m) CNT-coated sintered copper particles [168].

Fig. 15. Mobile or wearable electronic devices.

310 J. Qu et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 110 (2017) 294–313
the pioneering group, Peterson and his coworkers [174] examined
the possibility to apply MHPs to ease localized focal epileptic sei-
zure. The challenge is how to develop a bio-compatible MHP sprea-
der, which can be implanted to arrest epileptic seizures by rapid
cooling of small regions of the brain without significantly increas-
ing the temperature of other parts. Another biomedical application
is an MHP catheter of the size of a hypodermic needle, which
assures constant temperature operation within a therapeutic tem-
perature range for use in hyperthermia cancer treatments and may
be used to treat cancerous tumors in body regions that cannot be
treated by other means [15]. The MHP catheter may also be uti-
lized for cryosurgery applications with appropriate support
facilities.
6. Conclusions
In this review, recent advances in diverse MEMS-based MHPs,
including micro-GHP, micro-CPL, micro-LHP, micro-OHP and
micro-VC, have been presented. In addition, highly-regarded flexi-
ble polymer heat pipes are presented because of their compatible
with most MEMS fabrication and possibilities to integrate with
electronics packaging. With the development of nanotechnology,
nature-inspired hierarchical hybrid micro/nano-textured surfaces
are expected to act as novel capillary wicks for emerging MEMS-
based MHPs. In view of the continued trend to miniaturization of
electronic/optoelectronic devices and circuits and rapid growth of
MEMS products, MEMS-based MHPs will find ongoing and future
role in innovatory applications related to thermal engineering
and biomedical fields. It is apparent that further investigations
are still necessary in both fundamental and application aspects.
For examples, it is crucial to develop simple and feasible charging
process and packaging standard to enable MEMS-based MHP to
compete with other micro cooling schemes. The durability and
robustness of MEMS-based MHP are necessarily to be improved
for practical applications. Improved understanding of the phase
change behavior in micro scale and on micro/nano hierarchical
structured surfaces, thin film evaporation, wetting and rewetting
process, capillary pumping action, and heat transport limitation
affected by related factors are also indispensable.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foun-
dation of China (Nos. 51206065 and 51576091).
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