Simulation of Si/SiGe micro-cooler by thermal quadrupoles method

A new method based on thermal quadrupoles is presented to model the behavior of a single stage Si/SiGe micro-cooler in AC operating regime. The cold side temperature is calculated for different excitation frequencies, current magnitudes and device sizes. The sensitivity and precision of this method come from its analytical expressions, which are based on the solution of the Fourier heat equation in Laplace space. We assume that the thermal properties of the device are temperature independent. Action of each layer is represented by a matrix which relates the temperature-flux vectors at both sides in the frequency domain. A comparison of the model with experimental reflectometry techniques is also presented. Performance of Si/SiGe micro-coolers can be optimized by a combination of optical characterization techniques and the thermal quadrupoles simulation.