Two of the high performance power processes offered by the UMS foundry now support the electro-thermal (ETH) simulation capability in Keysight’s Pathwave ADS: the 0.25 μm GaN process (GH25) and the 0.15 μm GaAs PHEMT process (PPH15X-20).

Using the thermal data included in the PDKs, UMS foundry customers can fully simulate the ETH performance of their MMICs and assemblies. The simulation capabilities of ADS enable a complete analysis and optimization of the performance of the MMIC inside a package. This simplifies the calculation of device junction temperature, a critical parameter that determines the reliability of a power amplifier.

Designing GaAs and GaN power amplifiers is challenging, as the dissipated power is concentrated in the small channel of the device, and the thermal design of the assembly must conduct the heat to an external sink away from the channel. The temperature rise depends on the materials under the device, the operating bias and whether the RF signal is CW or modulated. Accurately simulating and measuring the channel temperature is difficult, given the small size of the device and its operation.

The thermal data implemented in the UMS PDKs was developed through a strong partnership with Keysight experts and development teams, which enables UMS foundry customers to have confidence in the performance and reliability of their designs.