THREADS: Technologies for Heat Removal in Electronics at the Device Scale

Today, radio frequency (RF) systems operate well below the limits of electronic capacity because the transistors – the basic building blocks of RF amplifiers – generate excessive heat that diminishes both transistor performance and lifetime. The Technologies for Heat Removal in Electronics at the Device Scale (THREADS) program aims to overcome the thermal limits inherent to internal circuitry operations, with a particular focus on critical power-amplifying functions. 

Leveraging new materials and approaches to diffusing excess heat, THREADS targets thermal management challenges at the transistor level.

Central to this effort is reducing the thermal resistance involved in dissipating internal heat, without degrading performance of the transistors. To that end, THREADS focuses on two technical challenges. 

• The first centers on reducing thermal resistance within the device while maintaining good channel current transport properties. 
• The second challenge involves moving heat away from high power transistors efficiently, without degrading RF performance. 

Ultimately, the program seeks to develop high efficiency, reliable, X-band transistors and power amplifier test devices with significantly improved thermal management, achieving an eightfold reduction in thermal resistance and a power density of 81 W/mm.