3D characterization of RF power transistors

Abstract

3D electromagnetic simulations and SPICE were used to model the influence of wire geometry, internal matching networks and package on the characteristics of high-power RF transistors for cellular base stations. A method for extracting the actual internal 3D geometries by applying SEM micrographs and Java software was developed. Measured transistor data was correlated with simulated data, and the importance of the contributing elements and the mutual coupling of the bond wires was demonstrated.