03. Electronics Packaging and Thermal Management

Thermal management technology of electronic components is the key factor affecting performance. With the rapid evolution of CPU chips, their power consumption and heat generation have also increased significantly. In recent years, many researchers have actively invested in the field of phase change material (PCM) to maintain the temperature of electronic components by continuously absorbing latent heat during phase change. However, although the material itself has the characteristics of high latent heat, its weak thermal conductivity lead to the longer time during phase change. So, how to enhance the heat transfer efficiency of PCM has been the key factor of research in industrial and academic fields. Hence, this study focuses on the heat sink design, the filling volume fraction of PCM used to cool electronic components, and conducts experimental research on the impact of PCM on heat sink performance. Circular pin fin and square pin fin design of heat sinks are used for comparison, and a no fin heat sink is used as a control group. In addition, paraffin-based PCM is selected as the research object. By filling PCM with different volume fractions, providing a heat source at the base of the heat sink and observing its temperature profiles to find the best fin design type. The research results indicate that with a constant fin volume fraction of 9% for both circular pin fin and square pin fin heat sinks, circular pin fin provide the best cooling performance. Compared to other fin designs, the circular pin fin heat sink achieves lower heat source terminal temperatures and better heat transfer efficiency, extending the time before the heat source reaches high temperature. Additionally, compared to no heat sink, it offers lower operating temperatures.