A heat spreader apparatus, testing system, method may be used to test an electronic device. The heat spreader may include a hollow housing. The hollow housing may define an interior chamber. The hollow housing may include a contact surface. The heat spreader may include a working fluid. The working fluid may be included in the interior chamber. The hollow housing may be configured to be physically compliant. The hollow housing may be physically compliant such that the hollow housing conforms to the shape of a testing surface in response to an applied pressure. The testing surface may be a top surface of a semiconductor. The testing surface may be curved or otherwise lack uniformity. The hollow housing may conform to the curvature or lack of uniformity of the testing surface such that minimal gaps exist between the hollow housing and the surface.

Method for controlling heat transfer between two objects. In one embodiment, the method includes flowing a current through an electromagnet disposed about a container holding magnetorheological fluid to bias a first conductive element against a first end of the container and a second conductive element against a second end of the container to align particles in the magnetorheological fluid such that first conductive element is conductively coupled to the second conductive element; and reducing the current through an electromagnet such that the first conductive element is biased away from the first end of the container and the second conductive element is biased away from the second end of the container to break the alignment of the particles in the magnetorheological fluid such that the first conductive element is not conductively coupled to the second conductive element.

A heat dissipation sheet includes a resin material and a heat dissipation member that is made of a material with a higher thermal conductivity than the resin material. The heat dissipation member has protrusion bands and recess bands that are alternately arranged in parallel with one another. Top surfaces of the protrusion bands are flush with each other, and are located in a first horizontal surface. Bottom surfaces of the recess bands are flush with each other, and are located in a second horizontal surface. A first slit is provided between the top surfaces of the adjacent protrusion bands. A second slit is parallel to the first slit is provided between the bottom surfaces of the adjacent recess bands. Portions of the heat dissipation member other than both the top surfaces of the protrusion bands and the bottom surfaces of the recess bands are buried in the resin material.

An aspect of the present disclosure is a system that includes a thermal valve having a first position and a second position, a heat transfer fluid, and an energy converter where, when in the first position, the thermal valve prevents the transfer of heat from the heat transfer fluid to the energy converter, and when in the second position, the thermal valve allows the transfer of heat from the heat transfer fluid to the energy converter, such that at least a portion of the heat transferred is converted to electricity by the energy converter.

A heat sink according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: a base portion having a first surface and a second surface which oppose each other; at least one heat dissipating fin extending vertically from the first surface, each of the at least one heat dissipating fin having an insertion groove extending from an end portion thereof toward the base portion, and a first fin portion and a second fin portion which are separated by the insertion move; and a connector included in the base portion, the connector being above the insertion groove in plan view, and the connector being configured to electrically connect a first heat generating component to be inserted into the insertion groove from a side of the first surface and a second heat generating component to be disposed on a side of the second surface.

A thermally regulated component is an optical element or chuck for holding an optical element, or a stage for same, or combination thereof. The component has first and second heat-transfer zones. The first has a first component surface that receives a heating influence such as incident electromagnetic radiation. The second has a second component surface. A conduit circuit extends in the component serially through the first and second heat-transfer zones, back to the first heat-transfer zone, and contains an electrically conductive liquid (e.g., liquid metal). A vibration-free pump (e.g., MFD pump) coupled to the conduit circuit induces flow of the liquid through the circuit. A heat-exchanger is in thermal contact, but not actual contact, with the second component surface. Thus, heat delivered to the second heat-transfer zone by the liquid flowing in the conduit circuit flows from the second component surface to the heat-exchanger.

A cooling system includes a first stage heat reservoir arranged to absorb heat from a heat source. Heat is transferred from the first stage heat reservoir to a second stage heat reservoir. The first stage heat reservoir includes a material with a heat capacity lower than that of the second stage heat reservoir but with a thermal conductivity higher than that of the second stage heat reservoir. Heat transfer structure increases heat transfer rate from the first stage heat reservoir to the second stage heat reservoir.

A heating system for a EWOD device using a single, spatially-structured temperature control element, used to create a zone on the device with a specific temperature profile. The heating system uses multiple contact regions between the temperature control element and the device. One or more of the contact regions are separated from the temperature control element by one or more thermally resistive layers whose purpose is to restrict heat flow from the temperature control element to the device, and further to restrict lateral flow of heat between adjacent contact regions. The heating system can use one or more materials with different thermal resistance to alter the heat flow to different regions of the device. The spatial location of the contact regions is also used to determine the temperature profile within the device. The device has an optional temperature control element which offsets the low temperature point from the inlet temperature. This invention also describes methods to process multiple droplets within the multiple temperature zones.

A cooling system for thermally conditioning a component includes a heat spreader configured to provide a cold side. An insulator plate is arranged adjacent to the heat spreader. A thermoelectric device is arranged within the insulator plate and operatively thermally exposed on a side of the insulator plate opposite the heat spreader. A cold plate assembly is arranged adjacent to the insulator plate and operatively engages the thermoelectric device.

A heat control method and device are provided. In the method, a distance or distances between one or more regions of a terminal and a predetermined detection object may be detected (S102); heat insulation processing may be performed in a first region of the terminal, where the first region may be a region of which the distance to the predetermined detection object is smaller than a first predetermined threshold; and/or, heat dissipation processing may be performed in a second region of the terminal, where the second region may be a region of which the distance to the predetermined detection object is larger than a second predetermined threshold (S104).