Modelling of Electro-thermal Filters in CMOS Technology

Master Thesis (2026)
Author(s)

P.F. Lee (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

Contributor(s)

K.A.A. Makinwa – Mentor (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

K.M. Dowling – Mentor (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

M. Mastrangeli – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

Faculty
Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
More Info
expand_more
Publication Year
2026
Language
English
Graduation Date
06-08-2026
Awarding Institution
Delft University of Technology
Programme
Electrical Engineering
Faculty
Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Downloads counter
54
Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Abstract

An electro-thermal filter (ETF) consists of a heater and a temperature sensor placed in the silicon substrate of a chip. It uses a heat wave to generate a phase shift that depends on a material property known as the thermal diffusivity. Temperature sensors and frequency references based on ETFs boast an impressive untrimmed inaccuracy, but their optimisation has been limited by a lack of accurate models. In this work, COMSOL Multiphysics was used to build and validate a finite element method (FEM) model of an ETF, and key sources of error were identified. The simulation results agreed well with experimental measurements.

Files

License info not available
warning

File under embargo until 06-08-2028