Session: K16-02: HEAT TRANSFER IN ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT II

Paper Number: 142466

142466 - Performance Enhancement of Gan Power Amplifier Through Integration of an Ultra-Compact Thermal Management System Integrated With Micro-Fins: A Cfd Modeling and Experimental Study 

Abstract: 

GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) allow much higher power densities at higher junction temperatures compared to traditional semiconductors. However, GaN HEMT operation at high power densities is limited by the heat caused by the dissipated power. Thermal management of GaN HEMTs typically involves high thermal conductivity substrates, e.g., silicon carbide (SiC), GaN-specific packaging solutions, and heat spreaders. As these methods do not sufficiently reduce GaN self-heating, GaN HEMTs are generally operated in pulsed mode instead of continuous mode, effectively reducing the average power delivered. In this study, a viable ultracompact jet impingement (UJI) thermal management system (TMS) is proposed to improve the achievable GaN power amplifier performance in terms of average power delivered. The UJI-TMS consist of an array of jets impinging the heat transfer fluid (HTF) to the GaN package base plate, with an arrangement of micro-fins to increase the effective surface area. The approach consists of CFD modeling and experimental cross-validation of the system at various operating conditions to achieve the target cooling rate of 2 kW/cm², while keeping the SWAP-C2 limitations. The proposed active cooling solutions will provide a constant temperature of 85 °C or less to the bottom of the GaN package flange, in order to ensure the increase in duty cycle.

Presenting Author: Sarvenaz Sobhansarbandi California State University, Sacramento

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Sarvenaz Sobhansarbandi is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and director of Advanced Renewable/Thermal Energy (ART-E) laboratory at California State University, Sacramento. She is also an associate professor of mechanical engineering at University of Missouri-Kansas City. She has received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Texas at Dallas in 2017. Her research interests include renewable energy, solar energy, computational fluid dynamics/hybrid numerical modeling with the focus on thermal and energy analysis, and design/optimization of thermal management systems. Dr. Sobhansarbandi has gained several years of research experience in the broad area of Thermo-Fluids, particularly solar energy technology, thermal energy storage and nanomaterials. She had exposure to design/modeling of technical issues both by simulation and in real field-testing. Dr. Sobhansarbandi has served as the PI on multiple funded projects from the federal and national organizations such as Office of Naval Research (ONR) and US Department of Transportation (DOT).

Authors:

Samual C. Sisk University of Missouri-Kansas City
Feyza Berber Halmen University of Missouri – Kansas City
Sarvenaz Sobhansarbandi California State University, Sacramento