Abstract: Although the heat dissipation problem of MEMS can be solved by existing common cooling techniques, it is still a serious challenge to achieve the efficient heat dissipation of electronic equipment. Compared with the traditional cooling techniques, the synthetic jet is a more efficient cooling technology, which provides a potential solution for the heat dissipation of MEMS. Firstly, the formation, the development and evolution of SJ are summarized, and the heat transfer characteristics of SJ are studied on the basis of explaining the flow-field topology. It is found that the best heat transfer performance of SJ can be obtained at the stagnation region. Secondly, the geometrical parameters of the cavity, exciter parameters and flow-field parameters affecting the heat transfer characteristics of SJ are analyzed in depth, and it is pointed out that the orifice to heat target spacing is the key factor affecting the cooling of SJ. Finally, the heat dissipation performance of various new radiators such as microchannels and fins based on SJ is discussed, and the difficulties in realizing the miniaturization of SJ cooling technology in characteristics, efficiency and noise of SJ are also analyzed, which provides the research direction for its future development.

Key words: synthetic jet, micro electro mechanical system, cooling technique, heat transfer characteristics, cooling application