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Micromachines
Special Issues
Thermal Transport and Management of Electronic Devices
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Thermal Transport and Management of Electronic Devices

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "E：Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2026) | Viewed by 3625

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jian Zeng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Sustainable Energy and Environment Thrust Function Hub, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511400, China
Interests: thermal transport; thermal management; solar-thermal energy; thermal measurement; carbon capture and conversion

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recent developments in electronic devices and components have led to significant advances in power, integration, and miniaturization. Considering the unprecedently high power density of over 100 W cm−2 currently possible in electronics, thermal management has become crucial in overcoming potential failures and resolving safety concerns; this requires deeper insights into fundamental thermal transport, thermal diagnostics, electronic packaging, and electronic cooling technologies from scientists, researchers, and engineers in the fields of HEMTs, IGBTs, lasers, and 3D-stacked chips, among others. Ongoing endeavours in cross-scale heat transfer—spanning fundamental energy carriers, thermal systems, operando thermal diagnostic tools, novel single-phase/phase-change/solid-state cooling techniques, and system-level techno-economic and life-cycle assessments—have revealed tractable solutions to push the power density towards 1000 W cm−2.

This Special Issue intends to present research papers and review articles that cover the recent advancements in the thermal transport and thermal management of high-power electronics, including thermal materials, heat dissipation techniques, thermal characterization, and thermal system analysis from both experimental and modelling perspectives. The topics in this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Microscale thermal transport;
  • Thermal transport in electronic materials;
  • Emerging thermal interface materials and phase-change materials;
  • Thermal management of electronics;
  • Single-phase and phase-change heat dissipation;
  • Thermal modelling and simulations;
  • Thermal reliability analysis of microelectronics;
  • Thermal system TEA and LCA;
  • Energy conversion and management.

Dr. Jian Zeng
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • thermal management
  • microelectronics
  • thermal transport
  • thermal diagnostics
  • thermal materials

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 12429 KB  
Article
Unified Parametric Optimization Framework for Microchannel Fin Geometries in High-Power Processor Cooling
by Abtin Ataei
Micromachines 2026, 17(1), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi17010086 - 8 Jan 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 611
Abstract
This study presents a unified parametric optimization framework for the thermal design of microchannel spreaders used in high-power processor cooling. The fin geometry is expressed in a shape-agnostic parametric form defined by fin thickness, top and bottom gap widths, and channel height, without [...] Read more.
This study presents a unified parametric optimization framework for the thermal design of microchannel spreaders used in high-power processor cooling. The fin geometry is expressed in a shape-agnostic parametric form defined by fin thickness, top and bottom gap widths, and channel height, without prescribing a fixed cross-section. This approach accommodates practical fin profiles ranging from rectangular to tapered and V-shaped, allowing continuous geometric optimization within manufacturability and hydraulic limits. A coupled analytical–numerical model integrates conduction through the spreader base, interfacial resistance across the thermal interface material (TIM), and convection within the coolant channels while enforcing a pressure-drop constraint. The optimization uses a deterministic continuation method with smooth sigmoid mappings and penalty functions to maintain constraint satisfaction and stable convergence across the design space. The total thermal resistance (Rtot) is minimized over spreader conductivities ks=400–2200 W m−1 K−1 (copper to CVD diamond), inlet fluid velocities Uin=0.5–5.5 m s−1, maximum pressure drops of 10–50 kPa, and fluid pass counts Np∈{1,2,3}. The resulting maps of optimized fin dimensions as functions of ks provide continuous design charts that clarify how material conductivity, flow rate, and pass configuration collectively determine the geometry, minimizing total thermal resistance, thereby reducing chip temperature rise for a given heat load. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Transport and Management of Electronic Devices)
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32 pages, 4796 KB  
Article
Temporal Extrapolation Generalization of Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) and Radial Basis Function (RBF) Surrogates for Transient Thermal Fields in Multi-Heat-Source Electronic Devices
by Wenjun Zhao and Bo Zhang
Micromachines 2025, 16(11), 1267; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16111267 - 10 Nov 2025
Viewed by 1057
Abstract
Efficient and accurate prediction of transient temperature fields is critical for thermal management of electronic devices with multiple heat sources. In this study, a reduced-order surrogate modeling approach is developed based on proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) and radial basis function (RBF) neural networks. [...] Read more.
Efficient and accurate prediction of transient temperature fields is critical for thermal management of electronic devices with multiple heat sources. In this study, a reduced-order surrogate modeling approach is developed based on proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) and radial basis function (RBF) neural networks. The method maps time-conditioned modal coefficients in a parameter–time space, enabling robust temporal extrapolation beyond the training horizon. A multi-heat-source conduction model typical of electronic packages is used as the application scenario. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the proposed POD–RBF surrogate achieves high predictive accuracy (global MRE < 3%) with significantly reduced computational cost, offering strong potential for real-time thermal monitoring and management in electronic systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Transport and Management of Electronic Devices)
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15 pages, 2432 KB  
Article
High-Temperature Thermal Camouflage Device Considering Radiative Thermal Transfer from the Target
by Zeyu Lin, Xiaohong Wang, Jiangtai Lin, Honghao Jiang, Guodong Xu, Tao Zeng and Tiande Wen
Micromachines 2025, 16(8), 840; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16080840 - 22 Jul 2025
Viewed by 1580
Abstract
Thermal camouflage technologies manipulate heat fluxes to conceal objects from thermographic detection, offering potential solutions for thermal management in high-power-density electronics. Most reported approaches are aimed at scenarios where the target is not a heat source; however, any target with a non-zero temperature [...] Read more.
Thermal camouflage technologies manipulate heat fluxes to conceal objects from thermographic detection, offering potential solutions for thermal management in high-power-density electronics. Most reported approaches are aimed at scenarios where the target is not a heat source; however, any target with a non-zero temperature emits thermal radiation described by the Stefan–Boltzmann law since the thermal radiation of an object is proportional to the fourth power of its temperature (T4). To address this issue, this study proposes a thermal camouflage device that considers the influence of radiative thermal transfer from the target. The underlying principle involves maintaining synchronous heat transfer separately along both the device and background surfaces. Numerical simulation confirms the feasibility of this proposed thermal camouflage strategy. Moreover, by altering some parameters related to the target such as geometry, location, temperature, and surface emissivity, excellent performance can be achieved using this device. This work advances thermal management strategies for high-power electronics and infrared-sensitive systems, with applications in infrared stealth, thermal diagnostics, and energy-efficient heat dissipation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermal Transport and Management of Electronic Devices)
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