A microcomputer thermal analysis of a Gunn diode in microstrip circuits

A microcomputer finite-element code has been used to analyze the steady-state thermal behavior of a microstrip Gunn diode circuit with the goal of reducing the device temperature by varying microstrip thicknesses. Although the microstrip is designed mainly for electronic purposes, the analysis has shown that it can also provide a favorable thermal environment to alleviate the device temperature. A two-step modeling approach that can reduce the computer memory needed for computation was used to allow the present study to be conducted on a microcomputer. In this approach, the temperature increases in the device and in the heat sink are considered separately. The device temperature is analyzed by the microcomputer finite-element technique. The heat-sink resistance is calculated by simplified analytical schemes.<>