Modeling and analysis for thermal management in gallium oxide field-effect transistors

Abstract

Increased attention has been paid to the thermal management of β-Ga2O3 devices as a result of the large thermal resistance that can present itself in part due to its low intrinsic thermal conductivity. A number of die-level thermal management approaches exist that could be viable for thermal management. However, they have not been assessed for β-Ga2O3 devices exclusively. Here, we explore the limits of various die level thermal management schemes on a β-Ga2O3 metal–semiconductor field-effect transistor using numerical simulations. The effects of the various cooling approaches on the device channel temperature were comprehensively investigated, along with guidance for material selection to enable the most effective thermal solutions. Among various cooling strategies, double side cooling combined with a heat spreader used in the active region of the device can suppress the device thermal resistance to as low as 11 mm °C/W, achieving a maximum dissipated power density as high as 16 W/mm for a junction temperature limit of 200 °C. A multi-finger transistor thermal model was also developed to assess the potential of β-Ga2O3 devices for higher output power applications. Overall, this numerical study shows that it is possible to achieve high power β-Ga2O3 device operation with appropriate die-level thermal management solutions.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Apr 20, 2020
Source ID
10.1063/1.5141332

Entities

People

  • Akhil Mauze
  • Chao Yuan
  • James S. Speck
  • Jingjing Shi
  • Robert H. Montgomery
  • Samuel Graham
  • Samuel Kim
  • Takeki Itoh
  • Yuewei Zhang

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Defense Threat Reduction Agency
  • Georgia Tech
  • Office of Naval Research

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Semiconductor Device Technology
  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • Thermal Physics or Thermal Science.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics