A method for forming a gas gap heat switch is provided comprising the following steps: (a) providing first and second conductors, and first and second connecting members, wherein the connecting members each have a thermal conductivity at least five times smaller than that of the conductors when at a temperature of 100K; (b) fusing the first conductor to the first connecting member and the second conductor to the second connecting member; (c) aligning the conductors such that the first and second conductors extend along a common major axis; (d) bringing proximal ends of the aligned conductors into contact with each other when said conductors are at a first temperature; and (e) joining the first connecting member to the second connecting member so as to form a chamber around at least the proximal ends of the conductors.

A controller configured to: acquire a temperature of a first component and a temperature of a second component; and adjust a thermal resistance of a medium between the first component and the second component based on the acquired temperature of the first component, the acquired temperature of the second component, a first temperature limit of the first component, and a second temperature limit of the second component.

An active fluid cooled heatsink assembly for modular components is disclosed. The active fluid heatsink assembly includes a fluid cooled heatsink, the heatsink further comprising: an inlet, an outlet, and a surface, wherein fluid passing through the heatsink is received by the inlet at a first temperature and expelled from the outlet at a second temperature, wherein the second temperature is higher than the first temperature; and at least one resource adapter, each resource adapter further comprising a first surface having a shape which conforms to a corresponding electronic resource of at least one electronic resource and a second surface having a shape corresponding to at least a portion of the surface of the fluid cooled heatsink, wherein each resource adapter exchanges heat from the corresponding electronic resource to the fluid cooled heatsink, and wherein the at least one resource adapter is mounted on the surface of the fluid cooled heatsink.

Magnetocaloric refrigerator or heat pump comprising an externally activatable thermal switch for transferring heat from a heat source to a heat sink, comprising: an insulator cage with thermally conductive windows for the source and sink; a magnetic nanofluid, comprised within said cage, wherein said magnetic nanofluid is able to flow under a magnetic field inside the insulator cage between a contact of the thermally conductive window of the heat source and a contact of the thermally conductive window of the heat sink; and a activatable magnet placed at either one of the thermally conductive windows, such that the produced magnetic field is aligned substantially parallel to the temperature gradient from heat source to heat sink. The apparatus alternates between: activating the magnet, such that the nanofluid flows to establish a thermal contact with the thermal source but not with the sink; deactivating the magnet, such that the nanofluid flows to establish a thermal contact with the thermal sink but not with the source.

An apparatus includes a thermally conductive interface assembly including a first component associated with a first interface surface and a second component associated with a second interface surface. The apparatus also includes a shape memory alloy component coupled to the thermally conductive interface assembly and configured to move one or more components of the thermally conductive interface assembly between a first state and a second state based on a temperature of the shape memory alloy component. In the first state, the first interface surface is in physical contact with the second interface surface, and in the second state, a gap is defined between the first interface surface and the second interface surface.

A thermal switch having an on-state and an off-state is provided. First and second plates are composed from a thermally conductive material. The first and second plates are connected to form an internal cavity having a channel defining a gap between the first and second plate. The first reservoir is coupled to the channel and contains a thermally conductive liquid. The actuator is coupled to the first reservoir and the channel and is moveable between a first state and a second state corresponding to the on-state and the off-state of the thermal switch, respectively. Thermally conductive liquid is allowed to flow from the first reservoir to the channel when the actuator is in the first state and allowed to flow from the channel to the first reservoir when the actuator is in the second state.

A method for controlling thermal conductivity between two thermal masses includes thermally contacting a first conduction body with a heat source, thermally contacting a second conduction body with a heat sink, and thermally contacting the second conduction body with the first conduction body by moving the first conduction body between a first position and a second position with a thermal expansion component. The thermal expansion component moves the first conduction body between the first position and the second position at a predetermined temperature and heat is conducted from the heat source to the heat sink through the first and second conduction bodies.

Systems and methods for degassing and charging phase-change thermal devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, a system includes a flask, a first shut-off valve fluidly coupled to an outlet of the flask, and a first valve fluidly coupled to the first shut-off valve by a fluid line. The system further includes a second valve fluidly coupled to the first valve, wherein the second valve is operable to be fluidly coupled to the phase-change thermal device, a second shut-off valve fluidly coupled to the second valve, a third valve fluidly coupled to the first valve, a vacuum pump fluidly coupled to the third valve, and a fluid injection device fluidly coupled to the fluid line between the first valve and the first shut-off valve. The fluid injection device draws the working fluid from the flask and injects a desired amount into the phase-change thermal device.

An apparatus for heating gas utilizes a series of chambers through which a gas volume is advanced, and a gradational heat transfer element which enables incremental heat transfer to the gas volume as the gas volume is advanced through the chambers.

An apparatus includes a thermally conductive interface assembly including a first component associated with a first interface surface and a second component associated with a second interface surface. The apparatus also includes a shape memory alloy component coupled to the thermally conductive interface assembly and configured to move one or more components of the thermally conductive interface assembly between a first state and a second state based on a temperature of the shape memory alloy component. In the first state, the first interface surface is in physical contact with the second interface surface, and in the second state, a gap is defined between the first interface surface and the second interface surface.