Journal of Radio Electronics. eISSN 1684-1719. 2025. №4

Full text in Russian (pdf)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30898/1684-1719.2025.4.7

Simulation OF THERMAL CHARACTERISTICS
OF HIGH-TEMPERATURE MONOLITHIC INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
WITH AN INHOMOGENEOUS DISTRIBUTION
OF HEAT SOURCES IN A CRYSTAL

I.V. Frolov ¹, A.M. Hodakov ¹, V.A. Sergeev ^1,2, D.V. Kleimenkin³

¹Ulyanovsk Branch of the Kotelnikov Institute
of Radioengineering and Electronics of RAS
432011, Russia, Ulyanovsk, Goncharova St., 48/2

²Ulyanovsk State Technical University
432026, Russia, Ulyanovsk, Severny Venets st., 32

³Don State Technical University
344000, Russia, Rostov-on-Don, Gagarin Square, 1

The paper was received January 13, 2025.

Abstract. A 3D thermal model of a monolithic integrated circuit (MIC) of a microwave power amplifier has been developed. This circuit is the basis for modern submodules of output power amplifiers of receiving and transmitting modules of active phased antenna arrays. The simulated MIC consists of three stages of power amplifiers, the total thermal power dissipated by the crystal is 6 W and is distributed between the amplifier stages of the MIC in the proportion 1:2:12. The active elements (transistors) of the MIC – the main discrete heat sources – are distributed non-uniformly across the MIC crystal. Computer modeling in the Comsol Multiphysics software environment has shown that with an increase in the ambient temperature from 300 to 600 K, the maximum overheating temperature of a gallium arsenide (GaAs) MIC crystal increases from 38 to 84 K, and that of a gallium nitride (GaN) MIC crystal – from 18 to 47 K. Based on the electrothermal analogy principle, according to which the sources of the released thermal power are represented by electric current sources, and the thermal resistances of the object’s structural elements are represented by electrical resistances, a thermal equivalent circuit of the MIC has been developed. Satisfactory agreement (within 10%) between the results of determining the maximum overheating temperature of both GaAs and GaN MIC crystals by computer 3D modeling and by calculation using the thermal equivalent circuit has been shown. The developed models can be used in designing high-temperature integrated circuits, including those with a non-uniform arrangement of heat sources in the crystal.

Key words: monolithic integrated circuit, 3D thermal model, gallium nitride, gallium arsenide, thermal equivalent circuit, crystal overheating temperature.

Financing: The research has been carried out at the expense of the Grant of the Russian Science Foundation No. 23-79-10069, https://rscf.ru/en/project/23-79-10069/.

Corresponding author: Frolov Ilya Vladimirovich, ilya-frolov88@mail.ru

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For citation:

Frolov I.V., Hodakov A.M., Sergeev V.A., Kleimenkin D.V. Simulation of thermal characteristics of high-temperature monolithic integrated circuits with an inhomogeneous distribution of heat sources in a crystal. // Journal of Radio Electronics. – 2025. – №. 4. https://doi.org/10.30898/1684-1719.2025.4.7 (In Russian)