WELCON

Water-cooled heat sinks (cold plates, cooling plates, cooling blocks) are components used to control the temperature of a target, such as heating, heat spreading, cooling, and temperature regulation.
There are several types of flow path structures for water-cooled heat sinks.
● Single flow path: The inlet and outlet are connected by a single flow path, like a single stroke of a pen.
● Parallel flow path: Multiple flow paths are arranged in parallel between the inlet and outlet.
● WELCON flow path: Narrow, short microchannels (fine flow paths) are arranged in a matrix pattern.

Our products' flow paths utilize proprietary fluid distribution design technology to ensure uniform fluid flow through all microchannels (fine flow paths) arranged in the matrix.
This achieves the following characteristics:

● Enables uniform temperature distribution across the cooling surface
● Improves cooling performance
● Low pressure loss due to the parallel arrangement of narrow, short flow paths

This high performance offers the following benefits for your systems and equipment:
● Extended lifespan and improved performance of electronic devices
● Rapid temperature changes enabled by high responsiveness
⇒ Quickly reaches the required temperature for next-process steps, improving cycle times
● Cooling achievable with lower flow rates or higher refrigerant temperatures than conventional methods
⇒ Enables smaller, lower-spec chillers, reduces overall system energy consumption, contributes to carbon neutrality
⇒ Reduces usage of cooling water, environmentally harmful refrigerants (fluorinated gases/refrigerants), and scarce gases (helium)
● Uniform temperature distribution across the target (temperature control of the entire target to the specified level)
⇒Improved yield in semiconductor manufacturing processes
●Enables miniaturization and thin-profile designs
⇒Increased design flexibility, reduced system footprint and mass

Additionally, product manufacturing primarily utilizes diffusion bonding—a technology that bonds metals at the atomic level.
By bonding materials in their solid state without melting them, we achieve intricate, complex, and high-strength structures, enabling the high performance described above.
Furthermore, it enables enhanced features such as high pressure resistance (up to 100MPa), leak prevention, durability for repeated use, and resistance to extreme temperature differentials (with proven performance exceeding ΔT400℃).

We handle thermal calculations, analysis, and design in-house. Therefore, we welcome inquiries regarding thermal challenges, not limited to the components mentioned above.
With extensive mass production experience in the semiconductor industry, please feel free to consult us.

There are various types of heat exchangers.
At WELCON, we specialize in microchannel heat exchangers.

Microchannels are, as the name suggests, flow channels measuring just hundreds of micrometers (less than 1mm).
These channels enable higher heat exchange efficiency.

This results in the following characteristics:
● Enhanced heat exchange performance
● High performance allows for miniaturization and thin profiles
● Despite narrow channels, customization of channel count and length allows control to target specific pressure losses
● Fine channels achieved via diffusion bonding technology
⇒ All-stainless steel construction without solder. High pressure resistance/high heat resistance/high corrosion resistance

This high performance offers the following benefits for your system:
● Installation possible in desired spaces
⇒ Installing immediately before required points enables supplying necessary temperatures where needed without wasteful heat dissipation
● Sufficient heat exchange achievable with low heat transfer/coolant flow rates, reducing flow volume
⇒ Enables lower cooling water flow rates, smaller/lower-spec chillers, overall system energy savings, and contributes to carbon neutrality
● Enables downsizing, weight reduction, and simplification of the entire system, including pumps and piping
⇒ Increases design flexibility and reduces equipment/system footprint

Furthermore, product manufacturing primarily utilizes diffusion bonding technology, which bonds metals at the atomic level.
By bonding materials in their solid state without melting them, we achieve intricate, complex, and high-strength structures, enabling the high performance described above.

Provided the material (SUS) is suitable, there are no restrictions on fluid types, including liquids, gases, and phase-change fluids.
Furthermore, enhancements are possible, such as increased pressure resistance (up to 100MPa), leak prevention, durability for repeated use, and resistance to high-low temperature differences (with proven performance exceeding ΔT400℃).

Vapor chambers, also known as sheet-type heat pipes, are products capable of transferring and diffusing heat.
Heat pipes are products designed to efficiently transfer heat.

They consist of a metal pipe containing a liquid (working fluid) that repeatedly evaporates and condenses, transferring heat away from the heat source.
A vapor chamber is essentially a heat pipe flattened into a plate, specialized for spreading heat two-dimensionally.
Instead of linear heat transport like a heat pipe, it diffuses heat across a surface.

WELCON's vapor chambers have the following features:
● Exhibits approximately 10 times the thermal conductivity of copper (depending on measurement methods, etc.)
● Thinner than heat pipes due to its flat plate shape
● Excellent contact with heat sources (installation completed simply by bonding with TIM, etc.)
● Capable of producing free two-dimensional shapes
● Minimal performance impact from orientation

This provides the following benefits for your system:
● Contributes to extending electronic device lifespan/preventing thermal runaway
⇒ Efficiently dissipates heat to heat sinks, fans, etc. (devices to assist air/water cooling)
● Fits into confined spaces; contributes to heat dissipation with flexible mounting orientation
⇒ Increased design freedom
● Achieves uniform heat distribution within a specified range
⇒ Improves system productivity, yield, etc.

If you have any potential applications in mind, please feel free to consult with us.

WELCON's inline heater is a type of microchannel heat exchanger that efficiently transfers heat from the heater to the fluid for heating.
Its flow path design enables heating without temperature variations.
Since the heater does not come into contact with the fluid, there is no risk of contamination.

It features the following characteristics:
● Compact and lightweight, allowing easy installation near the location where fluid heating is desired
● Microchannel flow path and structure enable heating without temperature variations (heating the entire fluid uniformly)
● WELCON's thermal design and analysis technology optimize heater selection and structural design
● Customizable heater capacity, size, fittings, temperature controllers, temperature sensors, pressure loss, etc.

Additionally, product manufacturing primarily utilizes diffusion bonding—a technology that joins metals at the atomic level.
By bonding materials in their solid state without melting them, we achieve intricate, complex, and high-strength structures, enabling the high performance described above.
Furthermore, we can enhance features such as high pressure resistance (up to 100MPa), leak prevention, durability for repeated use, and endurance against extreme temperature differentials (with proven performance exceeding ΔT400℃).

Diffusion bonding is a method of directly bonding materials by applying heat and pressure just below the melting point.
Utilizing this technology expands the range of achievable manufacturing processes and functions.

● Enables lamination bonding of thin sheets
⇒ Achieves microstructures of several hundred micrometers
● Achieves bonding strength comparable to the base material (atomic-level bonding)
⇒ Enables enhanced high pressure resistance (up to 100 MPa), leak prevention, durability for repeated use, and resistance to high-low temperature differences (with proven performance exceeding ΔT 400°C)
● Capable of producing complex hollow components
⇒ Enables structures previously unattainable, such as components for mixing, distributing, or ejecting gases and other fluids
● Enables precise bonding with minimal deformation
● Capable of bonding dissimilar materials
● No adhesives required
⇒ Improved high-temperature resistance, prevents contamination and foreign object ingress

For example, the photo below shows a palm-sized, small cube-shaped diffusion bonding sample.
Enlarged, it reveals extremely fine holes penetrating through.
This is achieved by laminating and joining 300 sheets with a honeycomb hole structure ranging from 250μm to 800μm.

WELCON develops and manufactures its own diffusion bonding equipment and has independently developed the bonding conditions, such as temperature, pressure, and time (process engineering).
Beyond the bonding equipment itself, we maintain various resources to meet quality requirements, including thermal and fluid analysis software, processing equipment for shaping before and after bonding,
pressure testing equipment and leak detection instruments for pre-shipment inspection, and performance evaluation facilities.