Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and Cooler Master Co., Ltd. have jointly developed a 200 μm vapor chamber, the world’s thinnest heat dissipator for electronic devices. This is the first product to result from the joint development partnership between Murata, which brings expertise in designing compact electronic components, and Cooler Master, a leader in heat dissipators for electronic devices. Both companies are committed to strengthening their partnership moving forward as they work to create new products that solve heat-related problems affecting next-generation devices.

As electronic devices achieve higher performance and more advanced functionality, the amount of heat generated per device is increasing, making efficient heat dispersion and dissipation, as well as cooling, a key issue. In addition, the limited available space inside the product case of high-density designs means that conventional heat dispersion components such as graphite sheets and heat pipes cannot provide sufficient heat dissipation. This has created a need for vapor chambers, which can disperse heat over a large surface area and dissipate heat effectively in spite of limited space. The space available for heat dissipators is particularly limited in mobile products with advanced functionality, such as 5G smartphones and AR and VR devices, as they utilize high-performance ICs and face constant demand for reduced weight.

Using Murata’s technology and expertise in electronic components, mainly for communication applications, the new product was designed to be the world’s thinnest vapor chamber at only 200 μm thick. It can be mounted in very small interior spaces yet provides efficient dispersion and dissipation of heat from components such as ICs, thereby improving the operating stability of compact electronic devices. The 200 μm vapor chamber will be manufactured at Cooler Master’s factory, benefiting from their extensive expertise in producing heat dissipators for a variety of electronic devices, and will be widely marketed as a product bearing the Cooler Master brand.

A cooling liquid (operating fluid) is enclosed between overlapping layers of thin metal foil. The operating fluid absorbs heat from the heat source, causing it to evaporate, and this vapor is dispersed within the vapor chamber, dissipating the heat. As the heat is dissipated, the vapor recondenses into the liquid to be circulated back to the heat source via a wick containing minute gaps.

Beginning with this new product, Murata and Cooler Master intend to build a partnership to meet new technical challenges and a wide range of product needs by utilizing expertise from both companies to develop heat dissipators for electronic devices. To strengthen cooperation between the companies on product development, Cooler Master plans to install development and testing facilities with the same conditions as Murata’s facilities at Cooler Master headquarters building scheduled for completion in the second half of 2021. This will allow the partners to share new product concepts and ideas without delay and realize the development of a system that provides accurate performance evaluation.