This work describes a Fast novel thermal analysis simulation tool for integrated circuits (FANTASTIC), which is fully automated and relies on an enhanced version of the Multi-Point Moment Matching algorithm. The tool provides a novel equivalent network suitable for use in SPICE-like circuit simulators to perform efficient thermal and electrothermal analyses. FANTASTIC requires much less CPU time and memory storage compared to commercial simulators. The thermal behavior of a state-of-the-art four-finger GaAs HBT is investigated as a case-study.

This paper presents a temperature-dependent SPICE model for SiC power MOSFETs. The model describes the static and dynamic behavior and accounts for leakage current and impact ionization. The technology-dependent MOSFET parameters are extracted from characterization measurements and datasheets. SPICE standard components and analog behavior modeling blocks are adopted for the model implementation. The model ensures a good agreement with experimental data over a wide temperature range, even under out-of-safe-operating-area conditions close to the failure occurrence.

This paper presents a novel bypass approach for photovoltaic panels relying on a bipolar transistor operated in saturation, the activation of which is handled automatically by a circuit comprising a pair of MOS transistors only. The functioning principle of the proposed system is explained and the improvements in terms of reliability of the bypassed subpanel and power produced by the string in comparison with a traditional diode-based scheme are quantified. The analysis is corroborated by dc/transient measurements and tailored PSPICE simulations.

The article investigates the detrimental effect of nonuniform and uniform crack distributions over a solar cell in terms of open-circuit voltage ( ${{\bm{V}}_{{{\bf oc}}}}$ ), short-circuit current density ( ${{\bm{J}}_{{{\bf sc}}}}$ ), and output power, the latter under a wide range of irradiance conditions. The experimental procedure to detect the cracks relies on electroluminescence (EL) imaging, which is nondestructive and requires a relatively low amount of time. The Griddler software is adopted to translate the EL-taken image into ${{\bm{V}}_{{{\bf oc}}}}$ and ${{\bm{J}}_{{{\bf sc}}}}$ maps. The main findings can be summarized as follows: the nonuniformly and uniformly cracked cells are both jeopardized in terms of output power; the loss corresponding to the cell with nonuniform distribution of cracks is increasingly higher than the uniformly cracked counterpart as the irradiance hitting the cells grows; and all cells affected by nonuniform cracks are severely damaged in terms of fingers and rear busbar, which concur to limit the maximum output current.

A detailed theoretical and numerical analysis of single-finger and two-finger bipolar transistors is proposed, which includes both self-heating and impact-ionization effects. Although related to completely different physical phenomena, self-heating and impact ionization share a common feature in that they introduce a positive feedback mechanism that causes the same singularities in the current-voltage characteristics, namely, a snapback (or flyback) behavior and current bifurcation. These singularities are triggered if either one or both effects are activated. Based on a rigorous mathematical method, referred to as the "Jacobian method," generalized conditions are derived for determining the onset of flyback and bifurcation, which ultimately limit the safe operating region, as a result of the combined action of impact ionization and self-heating. The proposed formulation also includes several important effects not considered in previous contributions. Finally, a detailed analysis of the limiting boundaries for safe device operation is presented, and simple criteria for the optimal choice of the ballasting network are suggested