Thermal analysis of a miniature electronic power device matched to a silicon wafer

This paper presents the power distribution modules of the WaferBoard™ system. These modules are critical components of these systems. In the proposed configuration, they are TCE (Thermal Coefficient of Expansion) matched to the WaferIC™, a wafer scale device providing a configurable system connectivity. The paper provides results of steady state thermal management investigations that will contribute to its performance characterization. The paper deals with material selection, design, and validation of cooling mechanism to reduce localized hot spots and large thermal gradients. The performance of the proposed power distribution and thermal management strategy was evaluated and tested using a finite element method. Finally, this paper presents the methodology that was used to predict steady state thermal behavior of these critical power devices. It shows the resulting temperature profile when the wafer feeds power to a high performance chip enclosed in a standard package.