A spice enhancement for the simulation and analysis of electro-thermal interactions on integrated circuit devices

Abstract

Presently, the power generated by integrated circuit devices can produce significant temperature gradients across the surface of the substrate. The fluctuations to the device operating temperature alter model parameters and can adversely affect circuit operation. However, SPICE can only simulate an electrical circuit characterized by a single uniform temperature for all device elements. The following work describes TWSPICE which is an enhanced version of SPICE developed for electrical and thermal analysis. TWSPICE can accommodate individual operating temperatures for each of the resistor, diode, and bipolar junction transistor elements. Furthermore, a thermal analysis algorithm, known as the Unit Profile Method, has been incorporated within the TWSPICE code to allow iterations between electrical and thermal analyses. Therefore, TWSPICE can be utilized for simulation of electro-thermal interactions in integrated circuits and testing them under more realistic conditions. In addition, examples of application have been included.