Acoustic Control of Two-Phase Microflows for Advanced Electronics Cooling

Abstract

Imec is a world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, bringing together advanced semiconductor infrastructure, system expertise, and an international ecosystem to address some of the most demanding technology challenges.

As demand for artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, advanced semiconductor packages, and dense heterogeneous integration continues to increase, thermal management is becoming a critical bottleneck for performance, reliability, and energy efficiency.

A key challenge is to remove very high local heat fluxes while avoiding unstable vapor accumulation, local dryout, temperature excursions, and excessive pumping or actuation power in compact chip-scale cooling systems.

In this PhD project, you will investigate how localized acoustic actuation can be used to control vapor-liquid dynamics in confined two-phase microflows, promote liquid replenishment, suppress dryout, and improve the stability and efficiency of advanced electronics cooling.

The work will combine several aspects of research, including:

• Fundamental investigation of acoustically driven vapor-liquid dynamics in confined microchannels.
• Multiphysics modelling of two-phase flow, heat transfer, acoustic actuation, and parasitic power consumption.
• Controlled experiments to quantify flow stability, dryout suppression, liquid replenishment, hotspot response, and net cooling benefit.
• Design and characterization of a chip-relevant acoustic microcooler test platform.
• Exploration of integrated monitoring and adaptive operation for robust thermal control.

The ultimate goal is to establish a validated technology concept and design-rule framework for acoustically stabilized two-phase microcooling, enabling more reliable and energy-efficient thermal management for future high-performance electronic systems.

Desired Background
We are looking for a motivated student who has:

• A master’s degree in mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, applied physics, micro/nanoengineering, engineering science, or a related field.
• Strong fundamentals in fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and transport phenomena.
• Interest in experimental research, microfluidics, two-phase flow, boiling, acoustofluidics, or ultrasonics.
• Experience or willingness to learn multiphysics modelling tools such as COMSOL or ANSYS.
• Programming and data-analysis skills, preferably in Python, MATLAB, or similar environments.
• Curiosity for MEMS, thin-film transducers, microsystem integration, and advanced semiconductor technologies.
• A hands-on, analytical, and collaborative mindset, with motivation to work at the interface of modelling, experiments, and device development.