Boulgheb, Abdelaaziz
"Enhanced thermal management of SiGe HBT integrated circuits
using the Peltier effect and DBC metal tracks"
Microelectronics Reliability 174 (2025): 115896
DOI: 10.1016/j.microrel.2025.115896
1 Department of Electronics, University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene, Bab Ezzouar 16111, Algeria.
2 Hyperfrequencies and Semiconductors Laboratory, Department of Electronics, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Frères Mentouri Constantine 1, PO Box 25017, Constantine, Algeria.
Abstract: Effective thermal management remains a major challenge for SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) integrated circuits, particularly in BiCMOS9MW 0.13µm technology. This study proposes a novel two-stage heat dissipation strategy that combines active thermoelectric cooling with passive DBC-based conduction an approach not previously explored in this context to address this issue. First, the Peltier effect is leveraged in combination with conventional plastic packaging to regulate circuit thermal performance. Second, Direct Bonded Copper (DBC) metal tracks are implemented to establish an efficient thermal pathway between the internal circuit and external heat sinks. Experimental results indicate that standard plastic packaging alone results in excessive heating (Tmax = 467 K). The incorporation of the Peltier effect significantly reduces the peak temperature to 380 K, while the addition of DBC tracks further enhances cooling, lowering the temperature to 340 K. Unlike traditional cooling solutions that rely solely on packaging or external heatsinks, our method enables localized, controllable heat extraction directly at the chip level, ensuring better thermal regulation and improved electrical performance. This dual approach not only mitigates self-heating but also leads to notable improvements in DC and RF performance. Specifically, the maximum current gain (βmax) increases from 1913 to 2183, and the transit frequency (ft) rises from 265 GHz to 285.6 GHz. These findings underscore the effectiveness of the combined Peltier-based cooling and DBC thermal management in enabling next-generation high-frequency applications.
Fig. a) SiGe HBT device structure simulated with COMSOL, showing the log of electron and hole concentrations. b) SEM cross-sectional view of the SiGe HBT.
