Recent advances in the optimization of evaporator wicks of vapor chambers: From mechanism to fabrication technologies

For the challenge of cooling hotspots in the burgeoning electronics/optoelectronics equipment, vapor chambers provide a promising solution based on a distinctive passive two-phase cooling technology. However, as the most pivotal component in vapor chambers, evaporator wicks involve complex multi-physical and multi-scale processes in porous structures, which has attracted extensive attention. This work comprehensively reviews the fundamental understanding of the inherent mechanisms of evaporator wicks, optimization strategies of macro/micro-scale structures, as well as fabrication technologies and their characteristics. Further, exploration reveals that the trend of improving the thermal performance of evaporator wicks can be described as: relying on advanced fabrication technologies to synergistically optimize capillary wicking capacity, critical/dryout heat flux and thermal resistance by considering multi-scale effects, such as patterned structures, hierarchical structures, and nano-textured surfaces. Finally, this review concludes its findings and put forward prospects for future research directions.

Automated summary

This review comprehensively discusses the inherent mechanisms, optimization strategies, and fabrication technologies of evaporator wicks in vapor chambers, highlighting the trend of improving thermal performance and suggesting future research directions.