Abstract The needs of microelectronics for heat removal are growing and have already exceeded the value of 1 kW/cm 2 . To assess the ability of jet impingement cooling to meet the growing requirements, a review of experimental studies was conducted. The review demonstrated both the lack of progress in increasing critical heat flux value over the past 30 years, and the fact that this technique is still considered effective and promising. The review showed that the movement to intensify heat transfer is in the same direction as in other promising cooling technologies. It is noted that the most productive heat transfer occurs in the region of the thinnest liquid film spreading from a free impingement liquid jet. New fundamental studies are discussed that note the significance of heat transfer values in a very thin liquid film, and this is important for the development of cooling technologies. Problems are formulated for the required detailed studies of highly dynamic processes in the boiling region of an ultrafine liquid film at the micro level, aimed at intensifying heat transfer.