The power supplies of electronics are not absolutely efficient, so extra heat is produced that may be detrimental to the function of the device. Practical heat sinks for electronic devices must have a temperature higher than the surroundings to transfer heat by convection, radiation, and conduction. In thermodynamics a heat sink is a heat reservoir that can absorb an arbitrary amount of heat without significantly changing temperature. If the fluid medium is water, the heat sink is frequently called a cold plate. The fluid medium is frequently air, but can also be water, refrigerants or oil. A heat sink is usually made out of aluminium or copper.Ī heat sink transfers thermal energy from a higher-temperature device to a lower-temperature fluid medium. Thermal adhesive or thermal paste improve the heat sink's performance by filling air gaps between the heat sink and the heat spreader on the device. Heat sink attachment methods and thermal interface materials also affect the die temperature of the integrated circuit. Air velocity, choice of material, protrusion design and surface treatment are factors that affect the performance of a heat sink. Heat sinks are used with high-power semiconductor devices such as power transistors and optoelectronics such as lasers and light-emitting diodes (LEDs), where the heat dissipation ability of the component itself is insufficient to moderate its temperature.Ī heat sink is designed to maximize its surface area in contact with the cooling medium surrounding it, such as the air. In computers, heat sinks are used to cool CPUs, GPUs, and some chipsets and RAM modules. The fin-stack acts as a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger transferring thermal energy from the working fluid within the heatpipe(s) to ambient air at dead-state condition.Ī heat sink (also commonly spelled heatsink ) is a passive heat exchanger that transfers the heat generated by an electronic or a mechanical device to a fluid medium, often air or a liquid coolant, where it is dissipated away from the device, thereby allowing regulation of the device's temperature. The heatpipes which contain a working fluid make direct contact with the CPU and GPU, conducting heat away from the component and transferring it to the fin-stack mounted on the exhaust port of the cooling fan. Typical heatsink-fan combination found on a consumer laptop. To the right is a smaller heat sink cooling another integrated circuit of the motherboard. A fan-cooled heat sink on the processor of a personal computer. For other uses, see Heat sink (disambiguation).

This article is about components used to cool electronics.

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