Finite element thermal model for high power transients in microelectronics with CVD diamond heat spreaders

A finite element model is developed for predicting the time-dependent temperature response in high power microelectronics which employ periodic transients. A comparison of a package containing a beryllium oxide (BeO) heat spreader to a package containing a CVD diamond heat spreader is completed. The transport method, for this model, is limited to conduction; contact with a cold plate boundary and a constant initial operating temperature are modeled. The anisotropic nature of CVD diamond's thermal conductivity is considered. The rapid thermal shock associated initially is a significant factor in the life of the device and its associated package. The small time steps required to model a transient package of even moderate frequency creates computational problems. Given the limitations in software and hardware, a method for predicting the transient response of a microelectronics package is developed.