Page 22 - Spring 2024

ADDRESSING HEAT MANAGEMENT

CHALLENGES IN MINIATURE

SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

A team of researchers at Osaka Metropolitan In order to harness the high thermal conductivity
University has tackled the increasing problem of diamond, the research team introduced a
of heat management in miniaturised 3C-SiC layer 9 a cubic polytype of silicon carbide
semiconductor devices by integrating gallium ) between the GaN and diamond, significantly
nitride (GaN) transistors with diamond reducing thermal resistance at the interface.
substrates. This led to the successful fabrication of GaN
High Electron Mobility Transistors, or HEMTs, with
Diamond has a very high thermal conductivity
diamond as a substrate as opposed to silicon
and by using it as a substrate for GaN transistors
carbide (SiC).
it has become possible to more than double heat
dissipation efficiency, potentially enhancing both This innovation is anticipated to have potentially
the performance and the reliability of high-power, very significant implications in fields that require
high-frequency electronic devices. high-power, high-frequency operations such as
5G communication base stations, weather and
The increasing level of miniaturisation of radar, and satellite communications.
semiconductor devices has resulted in a rising
power density, and with it greater heat generation. Reference: Miles, S., ‘Diamond-enhanced GaN Transistors in
The improvement to thermal management Heat Management’, Electronic Specifier, 2nd. January
efficiency has therefore risen in prominence as a
key requirement for the semiconductor industry.
With diamond having the highest level of thermal
conductivity owing to its tightly packed crystal
structure, it is clearly the ideal substrate material,
but until now its practical application has been
limited due to the challenge of bonding it with GaN
elements.

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