Compact Empirical Modeling of Nonlinear Dynamic Thermal Effects in Electron Devices

An original empirical approach to deal with nonlinear dynamic thermal effects in electron devices is proposed. The new technology-independent approach is very compact and easy to implement in computer-aided design tools. Therefore, it can be easily coupled with electrical device models in order to obtain accurate electrothermal models that are suitable for nonconstant-envelope RF applications (e.g., pulsed radar). Model equations and identification procedures are derived in this paper. Validation results and comparison with simplified models are also presented both for a simulated field-effect transistor device, as well as for a real heterojunction bipolar transistor device.