DARPA – Threads – DARPA THREAD (aka FROSTBITE):

The integration of thermal management solutions at the die level will be a key feature to increase the power density of GaN RF transistor technology in the FROST BITE Program. The objective of any thermal management strategy must be the reduction of the thermal resistance of the die which can be accomplished by integrating materials to assist with heat spreading and dissipation as well as designing the physical architecture to minimize thermal resistance. To enable this objective, we will utilize a combination of experimental measurements of thermal properties of materials within the die architecture (e.g., thermal conductivity and thermal boundary conductance), electro-thermal and phonon-physics based-modeling to guide the design of the device architecture, and finally, thermal measurements for validation of device performance. The team will rely on experienced researchers well known in the field of wide bandgap semiconductors to help address the thermal characterization and co-design of our FROST BITE devices. In this project, we are working with Prof. Sam Graham (UMD) and Raytheon.