Heat sinks

Heat Sinks enhance heat dissipation from a hot surface, such as a device generating heat to a cooler ambient, usually air. The primary purpose of a heat sink is to maintain the device temperature below the maximum allowable temperature specified by the device manufactures. Most heat sinks have fins andor ridges which are used to increase the surface area. The extra surface area allows more metal to come into contact with the air, which allows the heat to be dissipated more quickly. A heat sink is used when environmentaldesign controls fail to bring the junction temperature within reasonable limits. Higher thermal energy transfer efficiency of heat sinks is due to the low thermal resistance between heat sink and air.