Thermal Management and Characterization of High-Power Wide-Bandgap Semiconductor Electronic and Photonic Devices in Automotive Applications

Abstract

GaN-based high-power wide-bandgap semiconductor electronics and photonics have been considered as promising candidates to replace conventional devices for automotive applications due to high energy conversion efficiency, ruggedness, and superior transient performance. However, performance and reliability are detrimentally impacted by significant heat generation in the device active area. Therefore, thermal management plays a critical role in the development of GaN-based high-power electronic and photonic devices. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the thermal management strategies for GaN-based lateral power/RF transistors and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) reported by researchers in both industry and academia. The review is divided into three parts: (1) a survey of thermal metrology techniques, including infrared thermography, Raman thermometry, and thermoreflectance thermal imaging, that have been applied to study GaN electronics and photonics; (2) practical thermal management solutions for GaN power electronics; and (3) packaging techniques and cooling systems for GaN LEDs used in automotive lighting applications.

High In-Plane Thermal Conductivity of Aluminum Nitride Thin Films

“…Thermal dissipation from hot spots presents a bottleneck to the efficient and reliable operation of electronic devices, ranging from low-power logic devices to high-power RF high electron mobility transistors. − Different techniques, such as power management, improved packaging technology, , thermoelectric cooling, heat sink design, , and lateral heat spreaders, ,, have been implemented to circumvent this problem. However, these solutions often require departure from the most efficient electronic device geometry to allow for gains in thermal dissipation.…”

Transferrable AlGaN/GaN High-Electron Mobility Transistors to Arbitrary Substrates via a Two-Dimensional Boron Nitride Release Layer

“…The large 3 eV bandgap of GaN make it transparent to the infrared and visible radiation, which is known to lead to an underestimate of the surface temperature. 42 Figure 4, which within about 20 nm precision is also where the resistive electron gas is located that is the source of the electrical heat load. This is a good approximation for the electrical biasing used, which puts the transistor in the linear or "fully open channel" state.…”

“…The large 3 eV bandgap of GaN make it transparent to the infrared and visible radiation, which is known to lead to an underestimate of the surface temperature. 42 QFI images were averaged over 20 measurements.…”

Transient Electro-Thermal Coupled Modeling of Three-Phase Power MOSFET Inverter during Load Cycles

“…Power semiconductors/modules inside inverters are the most crucial devices controlling the power conversion efficiency. In response to the urgent need for high-performance power conversion applications, the power semiconductor industry has recently seen rapid technological developments, such as insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) [ 1 , 2 ], metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) [ 3 , 4 ], and even wide bandgap (WBG) silicon carbide (SiC) [ 5 , 6 ] and gallium nitride (GaN) power devices [ 7 ]. In contrast to IGBTs, MOSFETs comprise a number of advantageous features, such as a higher switching frequency and lower switching loss; accordingly, they have been used in a wide range of industrial applications, such as converters and inverters.…”

“…The trend for high power and downsizing in power devices is likely to bring about high power densities [ 8 ] and thus great power losses. Furthermore, a high power loss together with extreme operating conditions may potentially give rise to a high device junction temperature [ 6 , 7 ], which can cause various thermal and mechanical challenges, such as thermal instability and even unreliability in terms of thermal fatigue. For example, as a result of increased phonon concentration and lattice scattering, a high device junction temperature may lower the carrier mobility and thus raise the temperature-sensitive on-state resistance, which, in turn, increases the conduction loss and further elevates the device junction temperature.…”