Modelling of a micro-channel heat sink for cooling of high-power laser diode arrays

Micro-channel heat sinks are used in a wide variety of applications, including microelectronic devices, computers and high-energy-laser mirrors. Due to the high power density that is encountered in these devices (the density of delivered electrical power up to a few kW/cm2 ) they require efficient cooling as their temperatures must generally not exceed 100 °C. In the paper a new design for micro-channel heat sink (MCHS) to be used for cooling laser diode arrays (LDA) is considered. It is made from copper and consisting of 37 micro-channels with length of 9.78 mm, width of 190 µm and depth of 180 µm with the deionized water as a cooling medium. Mathematical and numerical models of the proposed design of the heat sink were developed. A series of thermofluid numerical simulations were performed for various volumetric flow rates of the cooling medium, its inlet temperature and different thermal power released in the laser diode. The results show that the LDA temperature could be decreased from 14 to 17% in comparison with earlier proposed design of the heat sink with the further drop in temperature obtained by applying indium instead of gallium arsenide as the soldering material between the LDA and MCHS interface. Moreover, it was found that the maximum temperature, and therefore the thermal resistance of the considered heat sink, could be decreased by increasing the coolant flow rate