Abstract
This paper proposes the use of electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) as the driving force for digitized heat transfer (DHT), a novel approach to microscale thermal management in which system cooling is actively achieved via the manipulation of an array of discrete microdroplets. Galinstan, a nontoxic, readily available, inexpensive liquid alloy with 65 times less thermal resistance than water, is proposed as a viable DHT coolant. The nature of the EWOD driving force and the velocity of EWOD-actuated droplets are presented, along with an analysis demonstrating the advantages of DHT over some other methods of microscale heat control.
The authors would like to acknowledge partial support by AFOSR Contract No. FA9550-05-1‐0334 and NSF Contract No. CTS-0540004.
Notes
2. Reliability Prediction of Electronic Equipment, DOD paper MIL-HDBK-217C, New York, 1980.