A method for balancing thermal and electrical packaging requirements for\ngallium nitride (GaN) high power amplifier (HPA) modules is presented. The\ngoal is to find a design approach that minimizes the junction temperature of\nthe GaN so that it is reliable and has interconnects that meet electrical performance\nrequirements. One benefit of GaN is that it can simultaneously\nachieve high power density and operate at microwave and millimeter-wave\nfrequencies. However, the power density can be so high that the necessary\nthermal solutions can have negative impact on electrical performance. This is\nespecially a concern for the electrical interconnects required for the input/\noutput ports on high power amplifier devices. This is because the signal interconnects\nmust operate at GHz frequencies, which means that special care\nmust be taken to avoid problems such as undesired signal coupling and\nground path inductance. Therefore, this work focuses on GaN packaging and\nits integration into a module. The results show that an optimum thickness for\nthe GaN heat spreader exits for thermal performance but the electrical design\nis impacted negatively if the optimum thermal design is chosen. Therefore, a\nbalanced design is chosen which meets overall system level requirements.
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