Govindarajan Natarajan

3D Ceramic Microfluidic Device Manufacturing

Today, semiconductor processing serves as the backbone for the bulk of micromachined devices. Precision lithography and etching technology used in the semiconductor industry are also leveraged by alternate techniques like electroforming and molding. The nature of such processing is complex, limited and expensive for any manufacturing foundry. This paper details the technology elements developed to manufacture cost effective and versatile microfluidic devices for applications ranging from medical diagnostics to characterization of bioassays. Two applications using multilayer ceramic technology to manufacture complex 3D microfluidic devices are discussed.

Microjet Cooler with Distributed Returns

This paper details the technology elements developed to design and manufacture a liquid microjet array cooling device for the thermal management of very high power dissipating electronic chips. Multilayer ceramic technology (MLC) is used to build the cooling device with micron-size jet arrays, which includes a distributed return network for the spent fluid. Intertwined microchannel flow networks inside the cooler body distribute the flow in and out of the device. A cooler with 1600 jets and 1681 interstitial returns for the drains built using glass ceramic material is discussed. When tested with an 18 mm heated silicon chip and an average convection coefficient of 0.052 MW/m2K, the device demonstrated a cooling capability greater than 2.5 MW/m2 with a water pressure drop of < 70 kPa. Further extension of the cooling capability to greater than 6 MW/m2, as predicted by the simulation, is also discussed.

Ceramic Microjet Cooling Device

This paper details the technology elements developed to design and manufacture a liquid microjet array cooling device, for thermal management of very high power dissipating electronic chips. Multilayer ceramic technology (MLC) is used to build the cooling device with microns size jet arrays, which include distributed return network for the spent fluid. Intertwined microchannel flow networks inside the cooler body distribute the flow in and out of the device. A cooler with 1600 jets and 1681 interstitial returns for the drains built using Glass Ceramic material is discussed. The device when tested with an 18 mm heated silicon chip and an average convection coefficient of 0.052 MW/m2 K demonstrated a cooling capability greater than 2.5 MW/m2 , with a water pressure drop of < 70 kPa. Further extension of the cooling capability to greater than 6 MW/m2 , as predicted by the simulation is also discussed.Copyright