Performance evaluation of wick-free vapor chamber featuring hierarchical laser engineered surfaces

Golobič, Iztok (avtor), Hadžić, Armin (avtor), Bahč, Gregor (avtor), Zupančič, Matevž (avtor), Može, Matic (avtor)

Thin vapor chambers are attractive for compact electronics but become difficult to operate reliably as the vapor space approaches the millimeter scale, especially when classical wick structures are omitted. This work investigates how coupled evaporator and condenser wettability governs the performance of a 1 mm thick wick-free vapor chamber. Six configurations are evaluated by combining three condenser surface states (reference, superhydrophilic, superhydrophobic) with either a reference copper evaporator or a laser-textured superhydrophilic evaporator. Thermal performance is assessed from 10 to 40 W using the evaporator–condenser temperature difference and overall thermal resistance. The results show that the preferred condenser wettability depends on evaporator capability. With the reference evaporator, the lowest thermal resistance at 40 W is achieved with reference and superhydrophobic condensers (1.21 and 1.18 K/W). With the laser-textured evaporator, a superhydrophilic condenser provides the best performance, and the SHPI–SHPI configuration reaches 0.77 K/W at 40 W. These findings provide practical guidance for designing ultrathin wick-free vapor chambers through coordinated interface wettability selection.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: vapor chambers, thermal performance, nanosecond laser texturing, surface wettability, thermal resistance, heat transfer enhancement
• Vrsta gradiva: Članek v reviji
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Organizacija: FS - Fakulteta za strojništvo
• Status publikacije: Objavljeno
• Različica publikacije: Objavljena publikacija
• Leto izida: 2026
• Št. strani: 21 str.
• Številčenje: Vol. 16, issue 4, art. 1795
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-179446
• UDK: 621.1:536.2
• ISSN pri članku: 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app16041795
• COBISS.SI-ID: 268459523
• Datum objave v RUL: 13.02.2026

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: Applied sciences
• Skrajšan naslov: Appl. sci.
• Založnik: MDPI
• ISSN: 2076-3417
• COBISS.SI-ID: 522979353

Licence

• Licenca: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva 4.0 Mednarodna
• Povezava: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.sl
• Opis: To je standardna licenca Creative Commons, ki daje uporabnikom največ možnosti za nadaljnjo uporabo dela, pri čemer morajo navesti avtorja.

Sekundarni jezik

• Jezik: Slovenski jezik
• Ključne besede: parne komore, izboljšanje prenosa toplote, nanosekundno lasersko teksturiranje, omočljivost površine, toplotna upornost, toplotna učinkovitost