A device and method are provided for more efficient thermal management of optoelectronic devices. A microfluidic distribution apparatus embedded with the optoelectronic device uses a working fluid in phase change to passively remove heat from an optoelectronic device. The working fluid undergoes phase change through various conversions between a liquid state and a two-phase liquid-vapor state to facilitate evaporation and condensation processes as the working fluid is distributed through micro-structures in the embedded microfluidic distribution apparatus. Passive two-phase cooling provides high thermal performance due to the use of the latent heat of a fluid in phase change, as well as the presence of favorable two-phase flow regimes at micro-scale dimensions.