Thermal management of MOSFET junction temperature in RF amplifier

Abstract

MOSFETs in an RF amplifier dissipate high heat flux due to switching and conduction loss. MOSFET's junction temperature affects product reliability adversely. This paper presents a thermal management method used in an RF amplifier development with junction to case temperature rise transient analysis, Thermal Interface Material (TIM) testing, clamping structural Finite Element Analysis (FEA), and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) aided cold plate optimization. Using the systematic method presented in this paper, thermal management of MOSFET junction temperature can be implemented with clear insights of temperature budget consumption in each section, and optimization options.