Heat Pipes for Temperature Control in Electronics

As electronic circuits become more densely packaged and higher in power, maintaining them within permissible temperature ranges becomes a major issue. This is especially true in the case of such portable devices as laptop computers, cellular telephones, and other hand-held units. Cooling by a conventional approach (for example, by use of a fan and a heat sink) ultimately reduces the useful battery power and the useful operating time of a portable device. Using its own funds, Thermacore Inc. employed knowledge gained from the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to develop a miniature high-performance heat pipe for use in cooling portable electronic devices.