Advanced Heat Spreader Technology for Gallium Nitride (GaN) Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMICs) Navy SBIR FY2016.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2016.1 Topic No.: N161-052 Topic Title: Advanced Heat Spreader Technology for Gallium Nitride (GaN) Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMICs) Proposal No.: N161-052-0852 Firm: ThermAvant Technologies, LLC 1000 A Pannell Street Columbia, Missouri 65201 Contact: Christopher Smoot Phone: (572) 397-6912 Web Site: http://www.thermavant.com Abstract: In this Phase I effort, ThermAvant will design, fabricate and empirically demonstrate high-thermal conductivity heat spreaders for high power GaN Power Amplifiers (PAs) on advanced Navy platforms. The Oscillating Heat Pipe (OHP) is the core technology that will enable demonstration of structurally sound, thin-profile heat spreaders that can attach to PAs and dissipate their high heat fluxes with minimal thermal resistance. Innovations to standard OHPs include miniaturization of geometries, optimizing heat transfer rates of the internal fluid oscillations, and (importantly) the ability to manufacture OHP heat spreaders with sizes, materials and extreme survivability temperatures that are required by major defense contractors' PA assembly processes which cannot be feasibly re-designed to accommodate the OHP heat spreader technology. Benefits: Successful completion will result chip-level OHP heat spreaders that can reliably conduct heat at >>1000W/mK under challenging heating and cooling conditions (e.g. 500 to >1000W/cm2 heat loads from 5mm and smaller devices). Understanding how OHP design features translate to improved steady-state heat transfer rates in small scale OHPs will contribute to the thermal management community generally. For agencies and major defense contractors, Phase I will add to the thermal management options available to radar, EW and commercial radar/RF system designers. Return