Laser Heat Sink
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Overview
Developed in 3051 and first fielded on the Clan Jade Falcon Night Gyr OmniMech, the laser heat sink was a revolutionary technology shift in cooling a BattleMech. Unlike a normal heat sink which uses radiators and heat-conductive fluids to cool a 'Mech, a laser heat sink uses lasers to excite the hot exhaust gases to a higher-energy state, converting the infrared energy of the gases to light which is then shunted out of the 'Mech via a series of highly polished surfaces. The resulting light show is highly visible and distinctive, which, while a serious drawback during covert operations, isn't really of much consequence under the traditional tenets of Clan warfare.[1][2]
Description
Functionally identical to a Clan-tech double heat sink, the lack of liquid and gas in the system reduces the chances of heat-based ammunition cook-off and means that laser heat sinks don't get the decreased performance on warmer worlds that single and double heat sinks have, while at the same time preventing laser heat sinks from taking advantage of immersion in water or colder weather to boost their performance. For the same reason, laser heat sinks are completely incompatible with Coolant Trucks.
While computer simulations showed laser heat sinks had great promise, advances and improvements upon them were not fast enough in coming for the Warrior-castes of the Clans. Removed from front line service, the Scientist-caste continue to tinker with the technology.