Physical study of the dissipated power area in high electron mobility transistors for thermal modelling
The hot area in power transistors due to the power dissipation is determined from a 2D-hydrodynamic model. The power is calculated everywhere in the device from the knowledge of the physical quantities (current density, electric field). The hot area is determined accurately to be coupled to a thermal modelling giving the temperature everywhere in the device [J. Park, M.-W Shin, C.-C. Lee, Thermal modeling and measurement of GaN-based HFET devices, IEEE Electron Device Lett. 24(7) (2003) 424-426 [1]; J.-C Jacquet, R. Aubry, H. Gerard, E. Delos, N. Rolland, Y. Cordier, A. Bussutil, M. Rousseau, S.L. Delage, Analytical transport model of AlGaN/GaN HEMT based on electrical and thermal measurement, 12th GAAS Symposium, Amsterdam, 2004, pp. 235-238 [2].]. The method is applied to HEMTs (high electron mobility transistors) based on GaAs or GaN. It is shown that the hot area depends on the bias conditions and on the transistor gate recess topology.
Thermal resistance calculation of AlGaN-GaN devices
We present an original accurate closed-form expression for the thermal resistance of a multifinger AlGaN-GaN high electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) device on a variety of host substrates including SiC, Si, and sapphire, as well as the case of a single-crystal GaN wafer. The model takes into account the thickness of GaN and host substrate layers, the gate pitch, length, width, and thermal conductivity of GaN, and host substrate. The model's validity is verified by comparing it with experimental observations. In addition, the model compares favorably with the results of numerical simulations for many different devices; very close (1%-2%) agreement is observed. Having an analytical expression for the channel temperature is of great importance for designers of power devices and monolithic microwave integrated circuits. In addition, it facilitates a number of investigations that are not practical or possible using time-consuming numerical simulations. The closed-form expression facilitates the concurrent optimization of electrical and thermal properties using standard computer-aided design tools.
Interface conditions for the boltzmann equation and derived transport models at heterojunctions in non-equilibrium
Abstract The paper deals with fundamental electron transport across heterojunctions in semiconductor devices. Interface conditions are presented for the Boltzmann equation at general heterojunctions modelled by band edge discontinuities. It is shown that these bouindary conditions are consistent with the volume Boltzmann equation. Furthermore, a method for constituting respective boundary conditions for moment equations of the Boltzmann equations is derived. The method is applied to a selected transport model. Results are given concerning the interface conditions for particle and energy flow, quasi-Fermi level, and electron temperature at the interface.