What is vapor chamber heatsink
About Vapor Chamber:
Vapor Chamber Heatsink are constructed from sealed copper plates and filled with a small amount of fluid such as de-ionized liquid that allows heat to be rapidly dispersed away from the source. Inside the chamber resides an internal support structure to prevent the buckling of chamber walls. Classified formally as a heatpipe, a vapor chamber is one of the best heat spreading options at the base of a heatsink; and typically used for high power devices. When combined with stamped fins it creates a high-end thermal management device that can rapidly spread heat from a small source to a large surface area.
How does vapor chamber heatsink works:
The vapor chamber is a vacuum cavity with fine structure on the inner wall, which is usually made of copper. When the heat is transmitted from the heat source to the evaporation area, the coolant in the cavity begins to vaporize after being heated in the environment with low vacuum. At this time, it absorbs heat energy and expands rapidly. The gas-phase cooling medium quickly fills the whole cavity. When the gas-phase working medium contacts a relatively cold area, condensation will occur. The heat accumulated during evaporation is released by the condensation phenomenon, and the condensed coolant will return to the evaporation heat source through the microstructure capillary pipe. This operation will be repeated in the cavity.
The advantges of using vapor chamber heatsink:
The VC heatsink can improve the thermal performance by 10- 30% over copper, and heat pipe based solutions. In mission-critical applications, it not only lowers the temperature by a number of degrees, but also sometimes eliminates the need for a fan on top of the heatsink, which improves the reliability of the system and eliminates noise.
Besides，the small volume can make the heatsink module control as thin as the entry-level low power consumption; Heat conduction is fast, which is less likely to lead to heat accumulation. The shape is not limited, and can be square, round, etc., which is suitable for various heat dissipation environments.
Last but not least,a vapor chamber is much lighter than solid copper, due to its internal chamber structure. In many cases, a vapor chamber based heatsink weighs similar to an extruded aluminum heatsink, but works much better than a copper heatsink.
What test need to be proceeded for mass production:
Like heat pipes, vapor chambers are very reliable thermal devices. There is no mechanical or chemical degradation over time The following tests are routinely performed to confirm the durability and reliability of vapor chambers:
Thermal Shock Test
Accelerated Life Test
Freeze Thaw Test
Burst Test
Cosmetic Degradation Test
Due to the mature technology and low cost of thermal module of heat pipe, the current market competitiveness of vapor chamber is still inferior to that of heat pipe. However, due to the rapid heat dissipation characteristics of the vapor chamber its application is aimed at the market where the power consumption of electronic products such as CPU or GPU is more than 80W ~ 100W. Therefore, vapor chamber is mostly customized products, which is suitable for electronic products requiring small volume or rapid heat dissipation. At present, it is mainly used in servers, high-end graphics cards and other products. In the future, it can also be used in the heat dissipation of high-end telecommunications equipment and high-power LED lighting.
