Electrically measuring the peak channel temperature of power GaAs MESFET

A method for electrically determining the peak channel temperature of GaAs MESFETs is presented. It is the combination of an electrical technique based on the temperature-sensitive electrical parameter (TSEP) with the numerical simulation approach of A.G. Kokkas's (1974) thermal model. The peak channel temperature, measured electrically, is slightly higher than the maximum temperature obtained by the IR method. The effect of the resolution on the precision of the measurement technique is numerically analyzed. The electrical technique is not only shown to have advantages such as nondestructiveness, low cost, and easy operation, but also exhibits no limitation on the spatial resolution and higher accuracy. >