Shape memory alloys (SMAs) have the potential to be used for a wide variety of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) applications, providing a unique combination of large deflections and high work output. A major drawback for SMAs in many applications has been the low frequency response, which is typically on the order of 100 Hz or lower, even in microscale SMA actuators. In MEMS applications, the higher surface-to-volume ratios have enabled responses to be improved by an order or magnitude or more. By further shrinking the SMA film/device dimensions, the frequency response may be improved even further. In this paper, we present a new, simplified process for fabricating sputtered, thin film SMA MEMS actuators based on nickel-titanium alloy (NiTi or, aka, NITINOL) that consisted of only one photo step to pattern the actuators using SU8. When heated through its solid–solid phase transition from low-temperature martensite to high-temperature austenite, the NiTi alloy undergoes changes in associated physical properties, such as Young’s modulus, resistivity, and surface roughness, that are critical to controlling MEMS performance. For example, these material property changes allow for the design of active or passive microscale sensors and actuators. In the new process, we are able to fabricate ultrathin films of NiTi with nanoscale thickness, which can be thermally cycled through two stable positions very rapidly, making it an intriguing thermal sensor and actuator material for high frequency applications. Additionally, NiTi can be used as an active thermal switch through resistive (i.e. joule) heating. We demonstrated a greatly improved frequency response of up to 3000 Hz with turn on voltages as low as 0.5 V (corresponding to only 1 mW power consumption) for devices exhibiting microns of cantilever tip deflection over millions of cycles, indicating these new SMA MEMS actuators have potential application for low voltage switching, modulation and tuning.

Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's (DARPA's) thermal ground plane (TGP) effort was aimed at combining the advantages of vapor chambers or two-dimensional (2D) heat pipes and solid conductors by building thin, high effective thermal conductivity, flat heat pipes out of materials with thermal expansion coefficients that match current electronic devices. In addition to the temperature uniformity and minimal load-driven temperature variations associated with such two phase systems, in their defined parametric space, flat heat pipes are particularly attractive for Department of Defense and commercial systems because they offer a passive, reliable, light-weight, and low-cost path for transferring heat away from high power dissipative components. However, the difference in thermal expansion coefficients between silicon or ceramic microelectronic components and metallic vapor chambers, as well as the need for a planar, chip-size attachment surface for these devices, has limited the use of commercial of the shelf flat heat pipes in this role. The primary TGP goal was to achieve extreme lateral thermal conductivity, in the range of 10 kW/mK–20 kW/mK or approximately 25–50 times higher than copper and 10 times higher than synthetic diamond, with a thickness of 1 mm or less.

This paper presents the fabrication and application of a micro-scale hybrid wicking structure in a flat polymer-based heat pipe heat spreader, which improves the heat transfer performance under high adverse acceleration. The hybrid wicking structure which enhances evaporation and condensation heat transfer under adverse acceleration consists of 100 μm high, 200 μm wide square electroplated copper micro-pillars with 31 μm wide grooves for liquid flow and a woven copper mesh with 51 μm diameter wires and 76 μm spacing. The interior vapor chamber of the heat pipe heat spreader was 30 × 30 × 1.0 mm 3 . The casing of the heat spreader is a 100 μm thick liquid crystal polymer which contains a two-dimensional array of copper-filled vias to reduce the overall thermal resistance. The device performance was assessed under 0-10 g acceleration with 20, 30 and 40 W power input on an evaporator area of 8 × 8 mm 2 . The effective thermal conductivity of the device was determined to range from 1653 W (m K) −1 at 0 g to 541 W (m K) −1 at 10 g using finite element analysis in conjunction with a copper reference sample. In all cases, the effective thermal conductivity remained higher than that of the copper reference sample. This work illustrates the possibility of fabricating flexible, polymer-based heat pipe heat spreaders compatible with standardized printed circuit board technologies that are capable of efficiently extracting heat at relatively high dynamic acceleration levels.

The thermal performance of a miniature, three-dimensional flat-plate oscillating heat pipe (3D FP-OHP) was experimentally investigated during high-gravity loading with nonfavorable evaporator positioning. The heat pipe had dimensions of 3.0 × 3.0 × 0.254 cm3 and utilized a novel design concept incorporating a two-layer channel arrangement. The device was charged with acetone and tested at a heat input of 95 W within a spin-table centrifuge. It was found that the heat pipe operated and performed near-independent of the investigated hypergravity loading up to 10 g. Results show that at ten times the acceleration due to gravity (10 g), the effective thermal conductivity was almost constant and even slightly increased which is very different from a conventional heat pipe. The gravity-independent heat transfer performance provides a unique feature of OHPs.

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