A planar electromagnetic field stirrer with periodically arranged metal patterns and diode switches is proposed for improving uneven heating of a heated object placed in a microwave oven. The reflection phase of the proposed stirrer changes by switching the states of diodes mounted on the stirrer and the electromagnetic field in the microwave oven is stirred. The temperature distribution of a heated object located in a microwave oven was simulated and measured using the stirrer in order to evaluate the improving effect of the uneven heating. As the result, the heated parts of the objects were changed with the diode states and the improving effect of the uneven heating was experimentally indicated.

In this paper, dosimetry of an in vitro exposure apparatus based on a cylindrical waveguide is performed. The SAR distributions are first obtained numerically by using FDTD method. The thermal fields in the medium are then estimated by numerical calculations of the equation of heat conduction. The maximum temperature rise for 17.9 W/kg average SAR during 3000 s exposure is about 2 on the bottom of the medium where cells are located. The thermal distribution is relatively uniform near the center of the dish and the temperature in this region is around 38.7. The results of the numerical calculation are experimentally supported. The results provide the electromagnetic and thermal characteristics of the exposure apparatus, which will define the exposure conditions of the planned experiments using this apparatus.

Hyperthermia is one of the modalities for cancer treatment, utilizing the difference of thermal sensitivity between tumor and normal tissue. In this treatment, the tumor or target cancer cell is heated up to the therapeutic temperature between 42 and 45 without overheating the surrounding normal tissues. Particularly, the authors have been studying the coaxial-slot antenna for interstitial microwave hyperthermia. At that time, we analyzed the heating characteristics of the coaxial-slot antenna under the assumption that the human body is a homogeneous medium. In this paper, we analyzed the heating characteristics of the coaxial-slot antenna inside an actual neck tumor by using numerical calculations. The models of calculations consist of MRI tomograms of an actual patient. As a result of the calculations, we observed almost uniform temperature distributions inside the human body including the actual neck tumor, which are similar to the results obtained for a homogeneous medium.

A simulation model for natural convection was developed for determining the surface temperature distribution in base plates with rectangular vertical fins in communication equipment. An estimated velocity derived from the buoyancy and pressure drop equations in a duct was used for laminar forced convection cooling simulations in parallel plates. Temperature distributions in finned plates were calculated by numerical integration of the heat conduction equation. An experimental study was also performed, to check these simulation results, by changing the height of fins, the pitch of fins, and the heat generation conditions. Experimental results and analytical results were found to agree well. Also, this simulation method was extended to analyze natural convection cooling in vertical base plates with inclined parallel fins. We placed alternately on the plates the sections without fins and the sections with fins on the plates. Using the inclined fins, air flow rate between fins was large and fresh air flew into the fins from the side of the plates. The natural convective heat-transfer rate for inclined fins was found to be 14% higher than that for vertical fins.

Localized temperature distribution in silicon on insulator (SOI) structures with trench isolations is calculated using three-dimensional computer simulation. Temperature rise in SOI transistors is about three times higher than in conventional structure transistors because the thermal conductivity of SiO2 is very low. If there are voids in the SiO2 layers and trench isolations, temperature in the SOI transistors increases significantly. A simple model is proposed to calculate steady-state temperature rise in SOI transistors.