{"schema_version":1,"experiment_id":"eoa_inverse_innovation_exp12_substrate_denial72_20260805","research_id":"eoa_inverse_innovation_exp12_light_screen_20260805","cell_id":"versioning_and_quality_discrimination__computer_science","search_lanes":{"direct_problem_and_intervention":{"queries":["multiple phase change materials heat sink different melting temperatures staged thermal management electronics","cascaded phase change material heat sink electronics transient heat load multiple melting points","accelerator GPU transient power thermal throttling heat spreader phase change material"],"source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3"],"no_result_note":null},"synonyms_and_historical_terms":{"queries":["electronic cooling double thermal capacitor phase change material","electronic heat sink thermal capacitor transient heat load","graded phase change material heat sink multiple PCMs melting temperature electronic cooling"],"source_ids":["SRC2","SRC3"],"no_result_note":null},"products_practices_and_standards":{"queries":["phase change thermal storage unit product electronics stacked PCM panels standard","NASA phase change material heat sink multiple melting temperature thermal control"],"source_ids":["SRC4"],"no_result_note":null},"component_combination":{"queries":["phase change heat sink copper conduction path thermal barrier multiple reservoirs","patent heat sink multiple phase change materials different melting points electronics","multiple PCM heat sink arrangement heat source melting profile"],"source_ids":["SRC1","SRC3","SRC4"],"no_result_note":null}},"sources":[{"source_id":"SRC1","title":"Multiple Phase Change Material (PCM) Configuration for PCM-Based Heat Sinks—An Experimental Study","publisher":"University of Portsmouth research repository / Energies","url":"https://puretest.port.ac.uk/en/publications/multiple-phase-change-material-pcm-configuration-for-pcm-based-he","source_type":"PRIMARY_RESEARCH","claims_supported":["Small electronic heat sinks containing multiple PCMs were experimentally studied.","PCM combination, spatial arrangement, melting temperature, thickness, and heat-source intensity affect temperature and melting behavior.","An RT50–RT55 combination extended thermal regulation, and reversing the RT47/RT58 arrangement changed maximum temperature."]},{"source_id":"SRC2","title":"Thermal Management of Transient Power Spikes in Electronics—Phase Change Energy Storage or Copper Heat Sinks?","publisher":"Purdue University / ASME Journal of Electronic Packaging","url":"https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/coolingpubs/294/","source_type":"PRIMARY_RESEARCH","claims_supported":["PCM heat sinks have been analyzed specifically for transient power spikes and pulsed-power electronics.","The work compares PCM buffering with copper heat sinks and considers both melting and resolidification.","PCM can suppress junction-temperature excursions under bounded transient inputs."]},{"source_id":"SRC3","title":"Heat Sink Assemblies for Transient Cooling (EP 3218929 B1)","publisher":"European Patent Office","url":"https://data.epo.org/publication-server/rest/v1.2/publication-dates/20200902/patents/EP3218929NWB1/document.pdf","source_type":"OTHER","claims_supported":["A 2014-priority heat-sink disclosure uses two conductively coupled PCMs changing phase at different temperatures as a double thermal capacitor for transient electronic loads.","The higher-transition PCM is reached through an intermediate heat-conducting structure that also forms a physical barrier, while frames, chambers, and seals contain the PCMs.","The disclosed device absorbs high transient heat, later releases it during low-load operation, and transfers heat onward to an exterior gas, liquid, solid, or heat-pipe sink."]},{"source_id":"SRC4","title":"7.0 Thermal Control—Phase Change Materials and Thermal Storage Units","publisher":"NASA Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute","url":"https://www.nasa.gov/smallsat-institute/sst-soa/thermal-control/","source_type":"OFFICIAL_GUIDANCE","claims_supported":["PCM thermal-storage units passively absorb transient heat during phase change and release it as the source output falls.","Repeated cycling and high-dissipation transients are recognized use cases.","Low PCM conductivity requires conductive metal housing, and housing adds mass; NASA also identifies stackable multiple-PCM storage-panel products."]}],"problem_evidence":{"status":"PARTLY_SUPPORTED","finding":"The broader problem is visible: electronic devices experience transient or cyclic high-power heat loads, copper-only and PCM buffers have bounded capacity, and added PCM housing creates mass and conduction-design costs. The retained sources do not directly establish the proposed accelerator-specific distribution of mild, medium, and severe pulses, so that narrower premise remains to be measured on the target package.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3","SRC4"]},"closest_prior_art":[{"name":"EP 3218929 B1 double-thermal-capacitor heat sink","source_ids":["SRC3"],"overlap":"Uses separated, sealed PCM regions with successively higher transition temperatures, conductive coupling and an intermediate barrier for passive response to transient electronic heat loads, followed by cooldown and reverse phase change.","remaining_difference":"It principally describes two serially coupled PCM stages, not three parallel reservoir paths coupled to an always-conducting copper base with calibrated resistances and an explicit equal-volume homogeneous-buffer reservation test."},{"name":"Al Siyabi et al. multiple-PCM electronic heat sink","source_ids":["SRC1"],"overlap":"Experimentally evaluates multiple electronic-cooling PCMs, different melting points and arrangements, different heat-source intensities, temperature distributions, and melting profiles.","remaining_difference":"The retained description does not show the proposed three parallel paths, explicit copper bypass, or a preregistered demonstration that mild pulses leave later-tier capacity reserved for severe pulses."},{"name":"Krishnan and Garimella transient PCM-versus-copper heat sinks","source_ids":["SRC2"],"overlap":"Directly studies passive PCM buffering of transient electronic power spikes against copper, including melting, resolidification, junction temperature, and design calculations.","remaining_difference":"It does not establish a staged, thermally isolated multi-transition ladder."}],"prior_art_disposition":"SUBSTANTIAL_COLLISION","contrastive_claim_remaining":"Against equal-footprint copper-only and equal-volume homogeneous-PCM baselines, a three-reservoir parallel architecture with an unconditional copper path and deliberately calibrated inter-tier resistances will show separated activation bands, leave a prespecified fraction of medium- and high-temperature latent capacity unmelted after mild pulses, and use that reserved capacity during severe pulses without violating a predefined steady-state thermal-resistance limit.","contrastive_claim_falsifier":"The claim is falsified if activation bands overlap or occur simultaneously, later tiers melt materially during mild pulses, the severe-pulse peak or time-to-ceiling is no better than the equal-volume homogeneous reservoir, cooldown/reset is inadequate, or the copper base path worsens the preregistered steady-state limit.","gates":{"adequate_source_search":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"The bounded search covered direct formulations, cascaded/multiple-PCM and thermal-capacitor terminology, products and official practice, patents, and component combinations. Four opened sources from four publication channels include two primary studies and official NASA guidance.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3","SRC4"]},"supported_problem":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"Transient electronic heat loads and the capacity, conductivity, cycling, and mass tradeoffs of PCM buffering are supported, although accelerator-specific pulse heterogeneity is only partly evidenced and must be measured.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3","SRC4"]},"distinct_testable_claim":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"Despite substantial collision at the mechanism level, the narrower combination of three parallel tiers, copper bypass, calibrated isolation, and reserved-capacity performance against an equal-volume homogeneous control has explicit measurable outcomes and falsifiers.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3"]},"bounded_next_test":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"A guarded coupon comparison across preregistered mild, medium, and severe current-limited pulses can measure activation order, melt fraction, peak temperature, steady-state penalty, cooldown, and reset without deployment on computing hardware.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2"]},"no_obvious_safety_or_authority_stop":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"A sealed, low-power coupon using laboratory-approved materials, current limiting, secondary containment, temperature ceilings, and immediate shutdown criteria presents no obvious authority stop. Seal integrity, PCM expansion, leakage, low conductivity, and added housing mass remain test controls rather than categorical blockers.","source_ids":["SRC3","SRC4"]}},"screen_survival":false,"world_novelty_boundary":"This bounded search found substantial preexisting overlap in multi-transition PCM heat sinks, including a two-temperature transient-cooling patent and experimental multiple-PCM electronic heat sinks. It does not establish whether the narrower three-parallel-tier copper-bypass implementation exists elsewhere, nor can it establish world novelty, patentability, market size, expert acceptance, realized value, or freedom to operate."}