Multi-Scale thermal modelling of new RF systems
PhD - Leuven | More than two weeks ago
Thermal management is more than ever a concern for RF circuit designers. The development of efficient high-power amplifiers operating at mm-wave is crucial to enable the next generations of wireless communications (5G and 6G radios). Although a power amplifier with 50-percent efficiency may seem impressive, it is also burning one-half of the energy supplied to it, much of which is lost as heat. The resulting temperature raise impacts the amplifier performance and lifetime, as well as the surrounding circuitry. To mitigate thermal concerns, new materials are introduced to improve the power amplifiers efficiency, heat sinks are designed, efficient circuit-level and package-level solutions are envisioned.
The goal of this PhD is to develop multi-scale models to evaluate and optimize the thermal behavior of future RF technology platforms. This includes:
- Fundamental thermal modelling of the new device architectures and materials
- Transistor self-heating and thermal runaway modelling and characterization
- Thermal optimization of high-power amplifiers
- Methodologies for chip- and package-level thermal assessment and optimization.
Required background: Master in engineering or equivalent, with good programming skills (C++) and experience in one or more of the following fields: thermal modelling, semiconductor device physics, transistor-level circuit simulations, and electrical measurements.
Type of work: 50% model development, 30% circuit-level simulations, 20% experiments
Supervisor: Piet Wambacq
Co-supervisor: Bertrand Parvais
Daily advisor: Bjorn Vermeersch
The reference code for this position is 2021-060. Mention this reference code on your application form.