Hybrid Electrothermal Simulation of a Three-Dimensional Fin-Shaped Field-Effect Transistor Based on GaN Nanowires

TL;DR

This paper presents a hybrid electrothermal simulation method combining Monte Carlo and Fourier's law to accurately predict temperature distributions in 3D GaN nanowire transistors, balancing precision and computational efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces a hybrid simulation approach that enables detailed thermal analysis of large-scale GaN transistors by coupling phonon-electron Monte Carlo with Fourier's law.

Findings

Accurate temperature predictions for GaN nanowire transistors.

Hybrid method reduces computational load for large devices.

Reveals temperature rise patterns in 3D GaN transistors.

Abstract

In recent years, three-dimensional GaN-based transistors have been intensively studied for their dramatically improved output power, better gate controllability, and shorter channels for speedup and miniaturization. However, thermal analysis of such devices is often oversimplified using the conventional Fourier's law and bulk material properties in thermal simulations. In this aspect, accurate temperature predictions can be achieved by coupled phonon and electron Monte Carlo simulations that track the movement and scattering of individual phonons and electrons. However, the heavy computational load often restricts such simulations to nanoscale devices, while a real chip is of millimeter to centimeter sizes. This issue can be addressed by a hybrid simulation technique that employs the Fourier's law for regions away from the hot spot. Using this technique, accurate electrothermal simulations are carried out on a nanowire-based GaN transistor to reveal the temperature rise in such devices.