Microstructure cooler and use thereof

1. Microstructure cooler ( 3 ) for an article ( 4 ) to be cooled, whereby said cooler ( 3 ) includes a stack of at least two metal films ( 1 ) and one base plate ( 5 ) that can be brought via a thermal contact surface ( 6 ) into thermal contact with said article ( 4 ), said metal films ( 1 ) and said base plate ( 5 ) are joined to one another in a material fit, present in said metal films ( 1 ) are channels ( 2 ) for cooling medium, and said channels ( 2 ) have a width b in the range of 100 to 2,000 μm, a depth t in the range of 25 to 1,000 μm, and a mean interval s in the range of 50 to 1,000 μm, residual film thicknesses r resulting from said channels ( 2 ) in said metal films ( 1 ) are in the range of 50 to 300 μm, and said base plate ( 5 ) has a thickness g in the range of 200 to 2,000 μm.

2. Microstructure cooler in accordance with claim 1 , characterized in that said channel width b, said channel depth t, said channel interval s, said residual film thickness r, and said base plate thickness g are optimized such that the pressure loss for the cooling medium in said cooler ( 3 ) is minimized.

3. Microstructure cooler in accordance with claim 1 , characterized in that said channel width b, said channel depth t, said channel interval s, said residual film thickness r, and said base plate thickness g are optimized such that the difference between the temperature of said thermal contact surface ( 6 ) and of the cooling medium flowing in said cooler ( 3 ) is minimized.

4. Microstructure cooler in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 1 - 3 , characterized in that said channel width b, said channel depth t, said channel interval s, said residual film thickness r, and said base plate thickness g are adjusted such that a cooling capacity to volume of cooler ( 3 ) ratio, i.e., a “compactness”, of at least 2 Watts/cm 3 is achieved.

5. Microstructure cooler in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 1 - 3 characterized in that said channel width b, said channel depth t, said channel interval s, said residual film thickness r, and said base plate thickness g are adjusted such that a “cooling capacity per volume and ΔT” of at least 0.1 W/cm 3 ·K) is achieved.

6. Microstructure cooler in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 1 - 3 , characterized in that said channel width b, said channel depth t, said channel interval s, said residual film thickness r, and said base plate thickness g are adjusted such that a specific, pressure loss-normalized cooling capacity of at least 0.1 W/cm 3 ·K·L/min) is achieved.

7. Microstructure cooler in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 1 - 3 , characterized in that said channel width b, said channel depth t, said channel interval s, said residual film thickness r, and said base plate thickness g are adjusted such that a heat transfer capacity of 200 Watts/cm 2 is achieved at a maximum difference in temperature between said thermal contact surface ( 6 ) and the cooling medium flowing in said cooler ( 3 ) of 10 K, at a flow quantity for the cooling medium through said cooler ( 3 ) in the range of 0.01 to 3 L/min, and at a pressure loss of at most 100 mbar.

8. Microstructure cooler in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 1 - 3 characterized in that the ratio of channel width b to mean interval s of channels is in the range of 1.5:1 to 2.5:1.

9. Microstructure cooler in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 1 - 3 characterized in that the ratio of channel width b to residual film thickness r is in the range of 2:1 to 5:1.

10. Microstructure cooler in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 1 - 3 characterized in that said width b of said channels is in the range of 200 to 500 μm.

11. Microstructure cooler in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 1 - 3 , characterized in that said depth t of said channels is in the range of 50 to 400 μm.

12. Microstructure cooler in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 1 - 3 , characterized in that said mean interval s of said channels is in the range of 150 to 300 μm.

13. Microstructure cooler in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 1 - 3 , characterized in that said residual film thickness r is in the range of 80 to 120 μm.

14. Microstructure cooler in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 1 - 3 , characterized in that said thickness g of said base plate is in the range of 500 to 1,500 μm.

15. Microstructure cooler in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 1 - 3 , characterized in that a heat exchange surface described by said channels ( 2 ) is larger than said thermal contact surface ( 6 ).

16. Microstructure cooler in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 1 - 3 , characterized in that said channels ( 2 ) in said metal films ( 1 ) run largely parallel to one another.

17. Microstructure cooler in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 1 - 3 characterized in that at least one inlet distribution space ( 10 ) and at least one outlet distribution space ( 1 ) are provided for the cooling medium.

18. Microstructure cooler in accordance with claim 17 , characterized in that all channels ( 2 ) connect on the inlet side to said inlet distribution space ( 10 ) and on the outlet side to said outlet distribution space ( 11 ).

19. Microstructure cooler in accordance with claim 17 , characterized in that at least one first connector is provided that is connected to said at least one inlet distribution space ( 10 ) and that at least one second connector is provided that is connected to said at least one outlet distribution space ( 11 ).

20. Microstructure cooler in accordance with any one of claims 1 - 3 , characterized in that said metal films ( 1 ) are interrupted at approximately the height of said thermal contact surface ( 6 ) by at least one distribution chamber ( 20 ), in that all channels ( 2 ) connect at their one end to said at least one distribution chamber ( 20 ), and furthermore in that at least one collection chamber ( 21 ) is provided within said cooler ( 3 ) to which all channels ( 2 ) are connected at their other end.

21. Microstructure cooler in accordance with claim 20 , characterized in that two groups of channels ( 2 ) are provided that run essentially parallel to one another and in that at least one collection chamber ( 20 ) is embodied as a gap between said two groups.

22. Microstructure cooler in accordance with claim 21 , characterized in that the width of said gap ( 20 ) is in the range of 50 to 2,000 μm.

23. Microstructure cooler in accordance with claim 20 , characterized in that at least one first connector is provided that is connected to said at least one distribution chamber ( 20 ) and in that at least one second connector is provided that is connected to said at least one collection chamber ( 21 ).

24. Use of said microstructure cooler in accordance with any of claims 1 - 3 for cooling electronic elements.