Fabrication of Microchannel for Heat Transfer Application

Many countries in the world are giving priority to sustainable development in all economic activities and growth programs. It emphasizes the importance of efficient energy utilization to meet the growth of high energy demand. The miniaturization of system in electronic cooling field is a key technology in improving the efficiency of system, energy conversion and its conservation to meet the global demand. The energy system becomes more efficient, durable and economical because of proper dissipation of waste heat through microchannel heat exchanger (MCHX). The microchannel has drawn the attention of large community of researchers nowadays. In the recent work, two microchannel test sections with different hydraulic diameters and surface roughness are fabricated on a silicon wafer using photolithography. The channels are fabricated to investigate heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics. The two channels have top widths of 300 and 400 μm and are designed with inlet and outlet plenums. Initially, the wafer is etched in 15% w/w KOH aqueous solution at 20 °C for 4 h to measure the etching rate and then in 30% w/w KOH for 4 days. It is observed that the channel with smaller cross-section has a higher etching rate, more depth, and more surface roughness.