What is a Vapor Chamber?

A vapor chamber is a vacuum sealed heat spreader with a wick structure lining its inside walls. The wick is saturated with a working fluid and when heat is applied, the fluid at that location immediately vaporizes and the vapor rushes to fill the vacuum. When the vapor meets a cooler wall surface it condenses, releasing its latent heat. Learn more about how they function and their role in the thermal management of electronics with this video.
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[@ekenedilichukwuekeh4647]

Thanks a lot ATS! I've been looking for a valid explanation for a while! So it was a planar heat pipe this whole time 🤔

[@heatsinks]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@winsharethermalloy3510]

A very good heat sink production expert! perfect

[@heatsinks]

Thanks Winshare, its acdtually a vapor chamber, not a heat sink. We do have an explainer video on what a heat sink is though, you can find that here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4CZcqh8mJxld6M

[@imconsequetau5275]

0:58 The inner "column structures" are for transporting condensate between upper and lower surfaces. There is no way that capillary action can efficiently carry fluid all the way to the edges and back. The hundreds of columns are made of sintered -copper- metal powder, providing short fluid paths. The maximum thermal capacity is often limited by the quantity/density of sintered columns. Heat transport rate is dependent on carrying fluid from the colder plate back to the hotter plate.

[@SeaJay_Oceans]

Now that is such a C00L video ! :-D get it ? because it's a video of vapor chamber cooling... :-) - ok, ok, I'll show myself out...

[@heatsinks]

Haha! Good one SeaJay!

[@dudevraj]

You guys gonna supply to apple?????

[@TruthIsKey369]

Nice video! What comes to mind is, what is the best solution for a CPU PC ? I would think a bigger vapor chamber would be better to dissipate the heat than just pipes?

[@heatsinks]

Your right Rene, depending on how hot that chip is, a vapor chamber attached to a heat sink may be a good option. But a solid material may work just as well. We talk about this topic at length with the reasons why on our article here: www.qats.com/cms/2017/07/26/vapor-chambers-solid-material-base-high-power-devices/ A heat pipe would work too BUT it has been attached to an evaporator and condenser to make enough surface contact with the hot device. You can learn about heat pipes and how they can be used on our video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3zVlX2mebiirbs

[@imconsequetau5275]

Typically, heat pipes are packed tightly side-by-side. And the best coolers have pipes emerge in both directions from the block. However, some CPU chip carriers may have hot spots that only one heat pipe touches. This is when an excellent heat spreader like a Vapor Chamber will help spread the thermal load among all heat pipes.

[@abhiinfpa]

u also makes Vapor chamber in smartphone ? xiaomi 11i has one

[@heatsinks]

Hi Abhi - Our vapor chamberrs would also fit into small, mobile form factors such as cell phones, yes.

[@mrfilipelaureanoaguiar]

So, from processor heat spreader there's 400w/m2k copper to thermal paste 4-15w/m2k or 76w/m2k for liquid metal, than it transfers to again, aluminum or copper ,200-400w/m2k with a surface and wick that transfer heat to water that is 1w/m2k on all that wick surface of 200-400w/m2k that is linked to the real cooling surface of aluminum fins, not the transfer from processor to the fins, bit the real cooling surface that is 200w/m2k of aluminum fins surface. So even if there's 1000 000w/m2k of transfer of temperature ,what is the surface that is cooled by fans and how well it performs better by weight and by volume of a heatsink with heat pipes? %?

[@imconsequetau5275]

CPU heat spreaders are either made of copper or are Vapor Chambers. The latter are *_at least 10 times better_* at conducting heat sideways than copper. Once the heat is spread out far enough, then thermal paste is good enough. Conventional heat pipes or water blocks can easily carry that heat away. The important caveat is to have dense enough arrays of sintered copper columns inside the heat spreader. Too few and the wick cannot keep up with the boiling rate.

[@jaivindiraen]

Is the fluids will finish some day??

[@eMPee584]

No, the vapor chamber is sealed and the fluid permanently enclosed.

[@AutoNomades]

Hello, when you say that one works only in one direction while the vapor chambers does it in both, does it mean that it acts like a heat diode ? Does it work also to transmit cold ?

[@heatsinks]

What that means is that the heat transfer is in one direction, so upward from the surface of the vapor chamber that is in closest proximity to the heat source. It is not electronic, it is based on thermodynamics where the liquid in the vapor chamber is turned into a gas from the heat, then condenses to recirculate back to the base. You can also learn more about this tech with our white paper "Vapor Chambers and Their Use in Thermal Management" (this is a pdf download) www.qats.com/Qpedia-Article/Qpedia_Sep07_The_use_of_Vapor_Chambers_and_their_use_in_thermal_management

[@AutoNomades]

@@heatsinks Thanks ! When i was talking about "diode", i meant it analogicly, I could have say "heat valve"

[@AutoNomades]

@@heatsinks Can it work in a non flat disposition, like on an inclined roof ?

[@imconsequetau5275]

Heat pipes conduct heat along their length. Approximately one dimensional heat transport. Vapor chambers spread heat in two dimensions over the entire rectangle. These are not thermal diodes because the design carries heat in either dirction, but always from hotter to cooler. You can find thermal diodes in the Alaskan Pipeline ground supports.

[@AutoNomades]

@@imconsequetau5275 Wow nice ! I tought they were also caloducs... What is the name of this tech ?

[@bnmsnoe5856]

😮