Sinks Tap New Thermal Spreading Technology

A new technology has been developed for creating heatsinks that are said to be effective in cooling high-power devices such as new µPs and IGBTs. Said to be smaller, lighter and to require less airflow than traditional heatsinks, Therma-Base heatsinks owe their higher performance to the alleviation of the thermal spreading resistance associated with a device that is smaller than the sink.Based on a vapor chamber technology, the base of Therma-Base heatsinks consists of a thin vacuum vessel whose inside walls are lined with a powder metal wick saturated with working fluid. That portion of the fluid heated by the µP is vaporized, with the vapor filling the entire vessel and thereby spreading the heat throughout the heatsink- as the vapor contacts the vessel's cooler walls, it condenses and returns to the heat source via capillary action.