6 Thermal Considerations

This section concentrates on giving a basic understanding of package thermal metrics and their real world application, along with specific package or device discussions.

Semiconductor and IC Package Thermal Metrics:SPRA953

Many thermal metrics exist for semiconductor and integrated circuit packages. Often, these thermal metrics are misapplied by those who try to use them to estimate junction temperatures in their systems. This very helpful document describes traditional and new thermal metrics and puts their application in perspective with respect to system-level junction temperature estimation.

Techniques for Thermal Analysis of Switching Power Supply Designs:SNVA207

This application note provides thermal power analysis techniques for analyzing the power IC. It includes analytical, simulation and hands-on approaches to estimating the IC temperature in a design.

An Accurate Thermal-Evaluation Method for the TLV62065:SLVA658

This application report is a basic overview of thermal evaluation and provides an accurate evaluation method of junction temperature in a real application. This method is proven to be easy to use and have good accuracy through measurements on the TLV62065.

Improving the Thermal Performance of a MicroSiP™ Power Module:SLYT724

Power module data sheets usually state their thermal-performance properties, but they are frequently based on a Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC) standard PCB, which generally does not match what is possible in the actual application. This article explains JEDEC’s PCB design and compares it to various real-world PCB designs that demonstrate the impact of PCB design on the thermal performance of a MicroSiP™ power module.

TPS62366x Thermal and Device Lifetime Information:SLVA525

In this note, we investigate and quantify the potential reliability impact of temperature-dependent electromigration on wafer-level chip-scale (WCSP) packages, taking TI’s TPS62366x (4-A peak output current) DC/DC Converter family as an example.

PCB Thermal Design Tips for Automotive DC/DC Converters:SNVA951

Thermal management is one of the most important aspects of designing power supplies. This is especially true in the automotive environment where converters must operate in high ambient temperatures and enclosed spaces. This paper provides guidance to the designer that will make the task of thermal management proceed more smoothly.

PowerPAD™ Thermally Enhanced Package:SLMA002

This document focuses on the specifics of integrating a PowerPAD™ package into the PCB design.

Practical Thermal Design With DC/DC Power Modules:SNVA848

This application note outlines a design procedure to quickly estimate the minimum required copper area on the PCB for a successful thermal design with DC/DC power modules.

Achieving High Thermal Performance in Compact Buck Power Modules:SLVAEI9

Modern communications equipment, personal electronics, and test and measurement equipment require highly-efficient, ultra-compact, and low-profile power solutions. Power modules with integrated passives provide customers with a smaller total solution size and ease the effort of power supply design.

Thermal Performance Optimization of High Power Density Buck Converters:SLUAAD6

This application report provides an insight into the thermal performance optimization of high-power density buck converters. The report shares several design implementations of the TPS62866, a high frequency synchronous step-down converter in a wafer chip-scale package (WCSP).

Thermal Design by Insight, not Hindsight:SNVA419

The listed reference material is home to additional data and many useful thermal calculators, covering material that is beyond the scope of this document. Our discussion of thermal design will begin with the definition of parameters used in data sheets such as θ_JA and θ_JC, and end with some rules of thumb for the thermal design of a DC-DC converter, including their derivation.

How to Evaluate Junction Temperature Properly with Thermal Metrics:SLUA844

The high junction temperature not only derate the device electrical characteristics, but increases the metal migration and other degeneration changes which cause accelerated aging and higher failure rate. According to the electronic design rules, every 10°C rise in temperature reduces the average life by 50%, so it is important to properly evaluate the thermal stress or junction temperature of the semiconductor devices.

Understanding the thermal-resistance specification of DC/DC converters with integrated power MOSFETs:SLYT739

This article presents assumptions that analog designers may make for thermal analysis. The analysis for each assumption is followed with insights to decipher the actual thermal information in the data sheet.

Method of Graphing Safe Operating Area (SOA) Curves for DC-DC Converters:SLVA766

This document describes how to graph the SOA curves with airflow in the DC-DC power supply converter. To reduce the overall cost of a system, the converter solution reduces the printed-circuit-board (PCB) area while maintaining the highest efficiency possible.

A Guide to Board Layout for Best Thermal Resistance for Exposed Packages:SNVA183

This thermal application report provides guidelines for the optimal board layout to achieve the best thermal resistance for exposed packages. The thermal resistance between junction-to-ambient (θ_JA) is highly dependent on the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) design factors.

Thermal Comparison of a DC-DC Converter in SOT23 and the New SOT563:SLVAEB1

This application note compares the thermal performance of flip-chip on lead (FCOL) SOT563 package with the conventional wire-bond SOT23 packages and FCOL SOT23 package. The document summarizes the packages thermal results and explains the advantages and disadvantages for electronic board design.

Understanding power module SOA curves to operate at high output currents and high temperatures:SLUAAJ1

This paper discusses the main thermal metrics R_θJA, Ψ_JB, and Ψ_JT and introduces SOA curves to understand the thermal performance and output current capability of power modules, in order to operate them within their recommended temperature limits.