Cooling high power electronics using dynamic phase change material

Phase change materials (PCMs) offer effective transient cooling due to their high latent heat of fusion and energy density. Unfortunately, PCMs generally have relatively low thermal conductivity, impeding effective heat dissipation from the heat source and limiting their power density. This work uses dynamic PCM (dynPCM) cooling for thermal management of high power electronics. DynPCM cooling uses pressure-enhanced close-contact melting of a PCM. The applied pressure causes liquid PCM to be pumped away from the heat transfer surface, maintaining a thin melt layer and high heat transfer. Through experimental investigations with a circuit board mounted 2 × 2 array of gallium nitride (GaN) power transistors integrated with heat spreaders of different thicknesses, we evaluate the cooling performance of dynPCM across various device heat dissipation levels (4.4 W/cm² to 46.6 W/cm²) and under both homogeneous and heterogeneous heating conditions. Using paraffin as the PCM, we explore the effects of different pressures (0 Pa, 750 Pa, and 7.5 kPa) on dynPCM cooling effectiveness. DynPCM significantly enhances cooling for electronics operating at high power, achieving over a 50 % reduction in steady-state junction temperature when compared to both traditional air-cooled and hybrid PCM-cooled systems at a 32.4 W/cm² individual GaN device power loss. We developed a reduced-order thermal resistance model to assess heat transfer from the electronic devices through the heat spreader into the dynPCM. The model helps to illustrate the critical role of the heat spreader design and PCM geometry on cooling performance, offering design guidelines for dynPCM thermal management systems. This work highlights the potential of dynPCM as a thermal management strategy for high-power electronic devices, facilitating the advancement of more effective cooling methods for a variety of applications.