What is a heat sink?

A heat sink refers to an object whose temperature remains constant despite the amount of heat energy transferred to it. It can be anything from the atmosphere to the ground.

There are generally several classifications of heat sinks:

1.In the industrial context, a heat sink typically refers to micro heat sinks used to cool electronic chips.

2.In aerospace engineering, a heat sink refers to a device that simulates the cold and dark environment of space by coating the inner surface of a liquid nitrogen panel with black paint.

3.In the current LED lighting packaging industry, LEDs generate significant heat when emitting light. To dissipate this heat, high thermal conductivity copper columns are used to direct the heat outside the packaging. These copper columns for LEDs are also referred to as heat sinks. LD (laser diodes) also generate considerable heat and need to be mounted on heat sinks to assist in heat dissipation and stabilize operating temperatures.