Electro-Thermal Co-Design and Verification of TGV Transmission Structures for High-Power High-Frequency Applications

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Semiconductor Packaging

Background:

• Through Glass Via (TGV) technology offers advantages for advanced packaging.
• Glass substrates have lower thermal conductivity than silicon, posing electro-thermal coupling risks in high-power, high-frequency applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct an electro-thermal co-design of TGV-grounded Coplanar Waveguide (CPW) and RF TGV-connected CPW structures.
• To investigate the electrical and thermal performance of these structures under high-power conditions.
• To reveal the temperature distribution mechanism under high-power operation.

Main Methods:

• Electro-thermal co-design of TGV-grounded CPW and RF TGV-connected CPW structures.
• Development of a high-power test platform for performance evaluation.
• Analysis of temperature distribution and insertion loss under continuous wave (CW) and pulsed wave (PW) operation.

Main Results:

• High power and frequency increase insertion loss due to decreased surface conductivity, triggering temperature rise and an electro-thermal coupling loop.
• Under CW operation (5-20 W), temperature rise reached 92.4 °C with a 0.4 dB insertion loss increase.
• Under PW operation (25-100 W, 2.5% duty cycle), temperature rise was 2.1 °C with a 0.3 dB insertion loss increase.
• A quadruple-redundant design minimized heat flux density, preventing hotspots.
• Pulse intervals effectively suppressed thermal accumulation.

Conclusions:

• Continuous wave applications require prioritizing thermal management strategies for TGV structures.
• Pulsed wave applications allow for a greater focus on electrical performance optimization due to suppressed thermal accumulation.
• The study highlights the importance of electro-thermal co-design for TGV technology in high-power, high-frequency scenarios.