Thermal Analysis of Power Amplifier Package in Cellular Phones
Chun-Kai Liu and Yi-Hsiang Cheng
Thermal & Structure Design Technology Department
APCiERSOilTRI
310, Chutung, Hsinchu, Taiwan
Abstract
Portable electronic devices, like the cellular phones,
offer increasing electronic functions. Radio frequency (RF)
components featured by small form factor, high power
dissipation and low cost are readily used in such portable
pmducts. On the other hand, the RF component packages
'such as power amplifiers (PA) trend to multi chip package
(MCP) and plastic package with organic substrate. The
thermal management becomes the challenge related to the
component performance and reliability.
This paper studies the thermal management of PA MCP
under pulsed power excitation. We offer the experimental
validated numerical models solved by computational fluid
dynamic (CFD) s o h a r e - FLOTHERM to predict maximum
junction temperature of PA. Thermal analyses of different
substrate materials, substrate structures and the effects of
thermal vias are discussed. The results show that after proper
thermal design, the maximum junction temperature can
satisfy the PA package thermal requirement.
1. Introduction
With the development of electronic devices and
communication technologies, the cellular phones are
becoming essential. Numbers of digital and analog devices
used in such products decrease its module sizes and increase
the work functions. One of the critical elements in these
devices is PA due to its increasing amount of power density
being dissipated [I]. This worse case becomes serious
especially when PA is designed in MCP. Therefore, the
process of thermal management is important and widely
concemcd for the purpose of functional integration [2-51.
0-7803-7682-X/02/$1 O.OO(C)ZOOZ IEEE
On the other hand, for the low price demand, the
substrate material is inclining to organic materials that have
less thermal conductivity than ceramic materials.
Furthermore, the Gallium Arsnide (GaAs) chip in PApackage
offers lower heat conductivity than Si chip does. Such that,
the heat transfer worker must clearly understand the influence
of materials and design properly.
Fig. I shows a PA package schematic structure. The PA
module consists dozens of passive units and two active
devices: one GaAs chip (2.lmmxl.6mmx0.0855mm) and one
silicon chip (1.4mmxl.2mmxO.Ol25mm) adhered on I sq. cm
substrate. The package is designed in a Leadless Grid Array
(LGA) package and mounted to the 80mmxlOOmm six-layer
printed circuit board (PCB) by solders.
While analyzing the heat transfer of electronic devices,
the thermal performance of an electronic component is
usually expressed in terms of its junction to ambient thermal
resistance (R,,). It is simply a matter of calculating Ric from
the equation (I).
whcrc q. is the junction temperalure, T,<is the ambienl
temperature and P is the input power. Howevcr, a dynamic
thermal behavior of the system is needed to predict the
package thermal performance while components excites with
pulse input power.
Resistance networks shown in Fig. 2 provide an
analysis of the thermal paths from junction to the other end of
the package. The thermal paths can be roughly scparaled into
two directions: one is upward from junction to the mold
compound; the other is downward from junction to the PCB
4 15 2002 Int'l Symposium on Electronic Materials and Packaging
through the substrate and solders. Consequently, thermal
energy in the package body is dissipated to the ambient by
convection and radiaticn. The downward heat transfer is
major under nature convection, but the situation is the
opposite while force convection. The implement of thermal
enhancement is basing on not only the package geometry, but
also the proper choice of materials along the thermal paths.
All of the previous related works were used ANSYS
sothvare [3,4,5]that spends more time to get a result. In this
paper we present a set of simulation using CFD software
FLOTHERM that were performed transient thermal analysis
on'a PA excited by pulse input power. Furthermore, thermal
analyses of different substrate materials, substrate structures
and the effects of thermal vias are discussed.
II. Numerical modeling of the PA in cellular phones
1.Basic Characteristics of PA
Fig.3 shows an example of power dissipation as a
function of time for PA-MCPs. In this figure, d is the power
dissipation duty cycle, / is the power frequency (-216 Hz),
and P,, is the maximum value of the power dissipation in
watts. It should be noted thatfis different front RF operating
frequency that is between 900 Hz to 2.4 GHz. Fig.4 is a
typical transient temperature response resulted from the pulse
input power. Due to the power consumption of PA is not
constant, the temperature response to the pulse power is
changing with time as a waveform and going to stable for a
long time [2-5].
2.Concepts of simulation
The current steady state thermal resistance definition
cannot be used for this type of power dissipation; rather a
dynamic thermal behavior of the system is needed to predict
the package thermal performance. For the pulse heat source,
the setup of interval of time patches in simulation should he
small enough so that the temperature responses can represent
the influence of pulse power. However, the problems of time
extravagancy and memory deficit will happen when the time
patches are too tight. It is important to consider the mention
above.
One knows that the system response is a summation of
DC (steady state) and AC (pulse) components. The DC part is
simply the result of analyzing the model with average power
load (Pxd, &duty cycle); the AC part is the result of
analyzing the model for single onloff load. Therefore, the
operating junction temperature is a summation of two
components expressed in equation (2).
7;= TDc+ TAc (2)
- where TOc and TAL.
are steady state and transient components
of the operation junction temperature over the ambient. More
exactly, TAc is on the centroid of the temperature response
curve with average power load.
The time patches are set up as exponential decay
function while calculating T., This method can obtain
reasonable results and saves at lease one-tenth time [SI.
3.Modelling
The numerical modeling is set up and simulated by
finite volume soflware FLOTHERM. A typical PA MCP
model given in Fig. 5 includes GaAs and Si chips, mold
compound, the substrate with various materials (variety of 4
layers BT, 2 layers BT, Aluminum Nitride (ALN) and
Alumina (AL201)), die attach, thermal vias, solders and PCB
[ 6 ] .The power dissipation characteristics of PA are shown in
Table I . Table 2 lists the material properties of the materials
used in the finite volume analysis. The thermal conductivity
of the substrate and PCB are simulated by effective thermal
conductivity calculated by the following equations: addition
of conductivity for conduction paths in parallel, and addition
ofreciprocals for conduction paths in scries:
where k, and 1, is the thermal conductivity and thickness of
the ith layer ofthe substrate or PCB.
The MCP is mounted horizontally referring to SEMI
standards [7]. Under this condition, convection occurs due to
416 2002Int'l Symposium on ElecuonicMaterials andPackaging
buoyancy caused by temperature gradient. Therefore, the
computational domain chosen sufficiently large to allow a
fully developcd flow above the package is important. In our
models, the computational domain extends in 30mm above
the package, 6mm below the board and lOmm in excess of
the side of PCB. Still air is constructed for each of the
package model and radiation effect is considered.
Fig. 5 gives a conception of the numerical model. The
GaAs and Si chips are mounted on the substrate with epoxy.
Since the power is generated in the top layer of the chip, the
heat source is modeled as a plate heat source attached on the
top of the chip. The MCP is surface mounted on the six layer
test board consisting of 5% copper trace and 95% FR-4. The
effective thermal conductivity of the test board is then
calculated. Each of the solders is modeled as an equivalent
cuboid and is placed on thc cxact location to ablate the error
caused by the different location of solders. In this study, each
component in the model is of the same dimensions as the
actual devices. Grid cells are much closer in which place has
a high temperature gradient.
ill. Discussion
Since the highest temperature of the chip is in the
junction, we do monitor the relationship of temperalure with
time here strictly. Substrate with 4 layers BT as an example,
the temperature profiles shown in Fig. 6 (a) and (b) represent
the mean value of maximum junction temperature (TDc)and
the maximum junction temperature of pulsed component
(TAc). The operation temperalure can be obtained by
summating Tnc and TAc. Equation ( 5 ) and (6) express the
junction temperature of GaAs chip and Si chip respectively.
~;(G~~,=TDC ~ C ~ U ( ~77.03+1.78
+TAC~C~A,= , = 78.81% (5)
= T,,,, +TA,,,= 63+0.4 = 6 3 . 4 ~ (6)
More than 70% of heat is dissipated from the
downward thermal path while natural convection due lo the
thermal conductivity of PCB under the package is higher than
the one ofair above the package. Fig.7 shows the temperature
profile in the x-y cross-sections of bottom of PCB, die and
417
top of mold compound. The temperature on the top of thc
mold compound is 6°C lower than the one on the die section.
We can know that increasing thermal conductivity of PCB
promotes heat dissipation from package grcatly while natural
convcction. The PCB conductivity can be enhanced by
changing the amount of copper metal traces patterned on and
in it.
The temperature profile for lateral section o l G a A s die
with alumina suhstratc is shown in Fig. 8. The alumina
substrate has a perfect conductivity and spreads heat in thc
horizontal and vertical directions quickly. The die
temperature with alumina substrate is much lower due to the
ease of spreading heat form substrate to PCB. A temperature
distribution profile of GaAs chip with 2 layers BT substrate is
given in Fig.9. The die temperature with BT substrate is
higher than the one with alumina substrate and that causes a
high temperature gradient while package is BT substrate. The
heat spreading etTect of the alumina compared to the BT can
explain this phenomenon. The alumina offers less internal
resistance form one end of the package to the other reducing
the temperature gradient across the package.
To compare the influence of a variety of substrate
materials on the heat transfer rate, four different substrate
materials are performed. The numerical modellings in this
paper present the substrates with 4 layers BT, 2 layers BT,
ALN and ALIO, respectively. The simulation results are
listed in Table 3, which reveal that the material of ALN has
the best thermal performance and the next is AL20,. It is
noted that the worse two cases are substrate materials of 4
layers BT and 2 layers BT. The die temperature of package
with 4 layers BT substrate is lower than 2 layers BT substrate.
When the substrate is organic materials, the use of additional
copper layers in BT substrate will enhance heat transfer to the
package solders and package body. Referring to Table 3, the
junction temperature of the model with BT substrate
approaches to the upper limit over which the electronic
device is unreliable.
By adding extra thermal vias, the thermal performance
of the package with BT substrate can he improved to the
2002 Int'l Sgmposium on Electronic Materials and Packaging
equivalent level of the package of ALN substrate. Table 4
shows the simulation results about the effect of thermal vias.
Packages with 4 layers BT as an example, Fig. I O (a) and (h)
give a comparison of temperature distributions between the
packages with and without thermal vias. The package with
thermal vias has an extra heat transfer throughout the
substrate and that circumstantiates an emphasis role of
thermal vias.
Ill .Conclusion
A detailed CFD simulation was performed to analysis
the phenomenon of heat transfer of PA MCP module. To
analyze the thermal response of pulse input power, the parts
of stable temperature and the transient temperature are
simulated separately. The results show a variety of thermal
performances caused from different substrate materials. The
package with an aluminum nitride substrate has the best
thermal characteristic, while alumina substrate is the second.
For the organic substrate, the use of copper metal
trace and layer enhances heat transfer to the package solders
and package body. The package with 4 layers BT substrate
has a junction temperature less about 10°C comparing to the
2 layers BT substrate; the package with AL201substrate has a
junction temperature less about 13°C comparing to the
package with 2 layers BT substrate. The thermal vias can
cause a junction temperature difference about 20’C between
the packages with and without them. Even at the same
ambient temperature and input power, the temperature
difference of die between the best case and the worse one can
reach 30’C that declares the importance of choosing the
substrate material in designing a package.
418
References
1. 1. Walker, “High-Power GaAs FET Amplifier”,
ARCTECH HOUSE, Inc., 1993.
2. D. L. Monthei, “Package Electrical Modeling, Thermal
Modeling, and Processing for GaAs Wireless
Applications, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1999.
3. A. Langari and H. Hashemi, ”A Cooling Solution for
Power Amplifier Modules in Cellular Phone
Applications, Electronic Components and Technology
Conference, 316, 1999.
4. A. Langari and H. Hashemi, “High Speed Power
Dissipation Analysis of a GaAs Device”, International
Journal of Microcircuits and Elcctronic Packaging, Vol.
22, 62, 1999.
5 , G.K. Mui, et al., “Thermal Analysis of a Power Amplifier
Module with Experimental Calibriation”, International
Journal of Microcircuits and Electronic Packaging,
V01.22, 319, 1999.
6 CX77302 Tri-Band Power Amplifier Module, Data Sheet,
Connexant Inc.
7 SEMI standard, ”Test Method Still- and Forced-Air
Junction-To-Ambient Thermal Resistance Measurements
of Integrated Circuit Packages, SEMI ‘338-87.
8 R. S . Li, “Optimization of Thermal Via Design
Parameter Based on an Analytical Thermal Resistance
Model, InterSociety Conference on Thermal Phenomena,
475, 1998.
2002 Int’l Symposium on Electronic Materials and Packaging
 , .. . .. . .
e-.

I I
Figure 5. Modeling of PA.
Figure I . PA package internal structure.

I I
--I-'

Figure 3. Simplified pulse power excitation.

Figure 6. Simulation result of model with 4

layers BT substrate
Figure 4. System response to the pulse power excitation.

4 19 2002 Int'l Symposium on Electronic Materials and Packaging

Figure 7. Each representative cross-sectionof model with 2
(a) Without thermal vias
layers BT substrate.

(b) With thermal vias

Figure IO. Temperalure distribution in x-z cross section

I of model with A1203substrate.
Figure 8. Temperature distribution in x-z cross section of
model with Al20, substrate.

~~ ~

Figure 9. Temperature distribution in x-z cross section of

model with 2 layers BT substrate.

420 2002Int'l Symposium onElecuanicMaterials andPackaging

 GaAs Chip Si Chip GaAs Chip
Withoutvia I With Via
Duty Cycle
I
TAC TE I T, I TK Tn T;
Table 1. Basic characteristics of PA used in this study

I Without Via
TAC . Ttc
Si Chip

Ti
I
TAC
With Via
TK T,
Die Attach ET(4 layers) 0.4 63 63.4 0.4 54 54.4
Thermal Via 7145 BT(2layers) 0.41 66.4 66.81 0.43 54 54.43
Solder 30.1 8500
~ FCB I
I
50,50,0.3
I
I 12W
I
I 880
Table 4. Thermal performances of the packages with
and without thermal vias.
Molding I 1 I 1703 I loo0

r Substrate konductivid Density. I Scecific

. Heat I
material I
(WlmK) l(kg/m"3)1 (JkgK)
BT(4 lavers)/I 38.38.0.3 II 1200 II 880
ET(2 1ayers)l 16,16,0.23 I 1200 I 880
Aluminum I 320 I 3200 I 732
Nitride 1
Alumina I 38 I 3970 I 910

Table 2. Material properties used in the model

I I ~.
GaAsChio I Si Chio I
Substrate TA= To, T, TA, TK T,
material
BT(4 layers) 1.781 77.03 178.81 0.4 63 I I 63.4
BT(2 layers) 1.74 86.25 87.99 0.41 66.4 66.81

Nitride I
Alumina 12.03 I 64.34 I 66.37 10.41 159.5 I 59.91
I I I I I I I I
Table 3. Simulation results for the variety of materials

42 1 2002 Int'l Symposium on Electronic Materials and Packaging