High Thermal Performance Gallium Nitride Power Amplifier and Transmit/Receive Module Packaging

The development of Wide Bandgap Semiconductors such as GaN has enabled tremendous improvements in power amplifier performance such as operational frequency and output power. These device improvements have in turn enabled performance and capability improvements in the end applications such as EW systems and radar T/R modules. The advances in device technology have not come without their own set of limitations which must yet be overcome. One issue that plagues equipment designers is the need for improved thermal efficiency which is exacerbated by the continuing requirement for smaller equipment footprints combined with increased functionality. While the development of ceramic multi-layer technologies has allowed smaller footprints to be realized through embedded circuitry and denser packaging, the thermal conductivity of such packages has not kept pace with the device technology itself. With the increased power densities expected from newer device technologies, a new method of multi-layer packaging is proposed which will take into account not just the substrate itself, but also the final package into which the modules will be mounted, the newer material sets available, and the manufacturing processes required all the way from initial substrate fabrication through final module assembly.