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Advances in Thermal Management and Reliability of Electronic Systems

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A Special Issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073) belonging to the section "F: Electrical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 5766

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Prof. Dr. Vincenzo d'Alessandro

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Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, University Federico II, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Naples, Italy
Interests: bipolar transistors; power devices; photovoltaics; microelectronics; semiconductor devices
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

THERMINIC is the leading European workshop on thermal and reliability issues in electronic components and systems, and includes topics such as multiphysics simulation and modeling; thermal, thermo-mechanical, and reliability-related measurements; thermal characterization; and lifetime prediction issues.

For this Special Issue, we welcome submissions of updated versions of the papers presented at THERMINIC 2025 ,or indeed any paper (including those not presented at THERMINIC) related to the above topics.

Accepted and finalized papers will be published immediately in Energies.

Prof. Dr. Vincenzo d'Alessandro
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

electronic components and systems
multiphysics simulation and modeling
thermal characterization
ther-mo-mechanical and reliability-tested measurements
thermal resistance
thermally-induced reliability degradation

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 3052 KB

Open AccessArticle

Operating Lifetime Behavior of Thermal Contact Resistance Between Clip-Attached TO 247 Package and Heat Sink with and Without an Ultra-Thin Interlayer Silver Film

by Zsolt Toth-Pal and Hans-Peter Nee

Energies 2026, 19(15), 3493; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19153493 - 24 Jul 2026

Viewed by 262

Abstract

The thermal contact resistance between a clip-attached TO 247 package and heat sink is a very large contributor to the total thermal resistance. Therefore, it is important to investigate its reliability and lifetime behavior. The novelty of this investigation is the new, detailed lifetime behavior measurement results of thermal contact resistance between package and heat sink. We have carried out an accelerated lifetime test on 30 samples at 110 °C with acceleration factor of 35 for 18 weeks, corresponding to 12.1 years operating life in indoor environments. The samples were 7 without interlayer film, 12 with 12.5 µm thick silver film and 11 with 6 µm thick silver film. At the start of the test, the average of the thermal contact resistance of samples with 12.5 µm silver film was 20.7% lower, and with 6 µm silver film, the average of thermal contact resistance was 8.7% lower than the average of thermal contact resistance of samples without film. During the first operating month, thermal contact resistance decreased by an average of 5%. Then followed an additional 5% decrease for 12 years. All individual samples show lower thermal contact resistance after 12.1 years compared to the start. No failures were observed, not even among high outliers. By a visual inspection of heat sink surfaces, high outliers can be avoided from start. The thermal contact resistance variation is smaller for samples with silver films compared to samples without film. Samples show decreasing thermal contact resistance with increasing dissipated power. Several previously known stabilizing mechanisms can hypothetically explain the results. Not only the softness of silver, but also the high ductility and Poisson Ratio, which elongate a 12.5 µm thick film more than a 6 µm thick µm film, are hypothesized to better fill out microscopic voids. We observe silver film surface structure changes when comparing aged silver films to un-aged silver films, indicating material movements, but no exact mechanism could be proven. Therefore, the explanations studied are hypothetical. Since all measured thermal contact resistances were lower after 12.1 years, our conclusion is that stabilizing types of mechanisms are dominant during the operating lifetime for indoor environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermal Management and Reliability of Electronic Systems)

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21 pages, 4615 KB

Open AccessArticle

Improved Thermal Transient Testing of Wide Bandgap Devices with Extremely Low Channel Resistance

by Sandor Ress, Gabor Farkas, Zoltan Sarkany and Marta Rencz

Energies 2026, 19(11), 2678; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19112678 - 2 Jun 2026

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 566

Abstract

Thermal transient testing (TTT) is an essential technique for characterizing electronic systems, including packaged devices, modules, and subassemblies. These tests serve two closely related purposes: first, they enable determination of peak operating temperatures under various power conditions; on the other hand, they allow extraction of partial thermal resistances within the tested structure and identification of structural details near the active devices. The latter objective has become increasingly challenging with the advent of wide bandgap devices featuring extremely low on-state resistance, such as GaN HEMTs. This paper first identifies the temperature-sensitive electrical parameters and heater structures relevant for TTT of semiconductor devices. It then narrows the focus on GaN power devices and analyzes how external series resistances, originating from HEMT packages and the associated printed circuit boards, affect thermal impedances and structure functions. To remove the influence of these external resistances, which distort the extracted thermal descriptors, an analytical correction methodology has been developed. The proposed approach is validated through measurements performed on real devices. The results demonstrate that the method successfully restores the intrinsic thermal properties of the devices, yielding more accurate and physically meaningful thermal characteristics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermal Management and Reliability of Electronic Systems)

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11 pages, 2889 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of Heat Transfer Coefficient Value on Temperature of Hybrid Electronic Circuits Cooled by Natural Convection

by Marcin Janicki

Energies 2026, 19(4), 1007; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19041007 - 14 Feb 2026

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 671

Abstract

This paper discusses the problem of modeling heat transfer coefficient values in electronic circuits cooled by natural convection. This coefficient represents the heat exchange between the outer circuit surfaces and the surrounding environment, and in thermal simulations, their value is quite often assumed to be constant. However, in reality, it depends on both the absolute temperature of a surface and the temperature difference between this surface and the ambient. Consequently, this assumption may lead to important simulation errors, especially when a heat source occupies only a small part of the circuit’s area. This issue is illustrated here based on the results of thermal simulations carried out for a hypothetical test structure containing a heat source that dissipates different amounts of power, has variable dimensions, and is placed in various locations. Moreover, the thermal coupling between two heat sources is also analyzed as a function of their spacing. The simulation results are compared and analyzed for cases when the heat transfer coefficient value is constant and when it is temperature-dependent. The main conclusions of the analyses are that the simulated circuit temperature values are much lower when temperature-dependent values of the coefficient used and that proper optimization of the circuit layout could substantially decrease the maximal and average circuit temperature values. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermal Management and Reliability of Electronic Systems)

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15 pages, 10531 KB

Open AccessArticle

Sensorless Dual TSEP (V_th, R_dson) Implementation for Junction Temperature Measurement in Parallelized SiC MOSFETs

by Louis Alauzet, Patrick Tounsi and Jean-Pierre Fradin

Energies 2025, 18(13), 3470; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18133470 - 1 Jul 2025

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1328

Abstract

This article presents a method for detecting the temperature distribution of two parallelized Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFETs. Two thermally sensitive electrical parameters (TSEPs), namely the on-state resistance (

R_{d s o n}

) and the threshold voltage (

V_{t h}

), [...] Read more.

R_{d s o n}

) and the threshold voltage (

V_{t h}

), are introduced. A comparison of the temperatures interpolated by

V_{t h}

and

R_{d s o n}

shows disparity, enabling the detection of individual junction temperatures.

V_{t h}

instability and its measurement are discussed for SiC devices. Experimental results show that, depending on the instability of the

V_{t h}

and the sensitivity of the two TSEPs at certain temperatures, a combination of different TSEPs could be a solution for extracting the maximum junction temperature of parallelized devices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermal Management and Reliability of Electronic Systems)

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15 pages, 6416 KB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

A Cost-Driven Analysis of Thermal Performance in Power Modules

by Ciro Scognamillo, Antonio Pio Catalano, Lorenzo Codecasa, Alberto Castellazzi and Vincenzo d’Alessandro

Energies 2025, 18(7), 1665; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18071665 - 27 Mar 2025

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1827

Abstract

This paper offers an in-depth overview of the trade-off between thermal performance and assembly cost in state-of-the-art power modules (PMs). Since the development of the PM technological process is still in its infancy, PMs are typically designed and prototyped in order to evaluate their electrical/thermal characteristics. The numerical investigation conducted here aims to analyze the impact of design choices (e.g., assembly materials and dimensions, cooling system efficiency) on the thermal resistance (R_TH, [K/W]), thermal time constant (τ, [s]), and overall cost (PM_cost, [$]) of semiconductor devices integrated in both single- and double-sided cooled PMs, without any need for prototyping stages. The influence of the thicknesses of the copper and ceramic layers is explored, since they play a relevant role in defining the thermal ratings, as well as the electrical and mechanical characteristics, of the assemblies. The benefits deriving from thicker layers are then weighed against the cost of materials, and figures of merit are defined to evaluate the trade-offs between cost and thermal behavior. The impact of two cooling solutions—passive heatsink and forced liquid—is also taken into account. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermal Management and Reliability of Electronic Systems)

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