CUSTOM SiC POWER MODULE
TECHNOLOGY, PROCESS & PERFORMANCE
Silicon-Carbide (SiC) devices with superior performance over traditional silicon power devices have become the prime candidates for future high-performance power electronics energy conversion.
Traditional device packaging and assembly strategies become a limiting factor in fully realizing the benefits offered by SiC power devices.
AUREL heritage in ceramic and IMS substrates design and production processes, enhance the SiC devices capability in tailored customer specific application.
AUREL is available to support customers in tailor-made solutions to meet specific needs in terms of space and integration.
TECHNOLOGY
Since more than 50 years, AUREL is leader in thick film technology.
AUREL can design and mass produce Thick Film Hybrid Circuits on Alumina (Al₂O₃) and on Aluminium Nitride (AlN) on complex geometry substrates, also provided with laser made metal coated pass-thru holes.
Alumina and Aluminum Nitride substrates high thermal and mechanical stability is extremely suitable for chip & wire components.
Alumina (Al2O3)
- Thermal Conductivity: ≥ 25 (W / m·k)
- Dielectric Constant [@ 1 MHz]: 9.4
- Dielectric Strength: ≥ 9 (kV / mm)
Alumina Substrate
Aluminum Nitride (AlN)
- Thermal Conductivity: ≥ 170 (W / m·k)
- Dielectric Constant [@ 1 MHz]: 10.6
- Dielectric Strength: ≥ 20 (kV / mm)
Aluminum Nitride Substrate
PROCESS
Processes to enable SiC technology are related to the assembly of the die to a high-performance substrate.
AUREL excels in these assembly processes, designing and manufacturing the machines needed to prototype and mass produce the final product.
Screen printing
Screen Printing is a stenciling method that involves printing paste through stencils that are supported by a porous mesh stretched across a frame called a screen.
With this technique circuit layout is transferred to substrate and then fixed by heat process.
AUREL Automatic Screen Printer
Silver sintering
Silver/copper pressure sintering is a heat-treatment process applied to a powder material which is currently considered the most reliable technology for connecting components in power electronics.
Main features of the process are:
- Best thermal conductivity coefficient (> 150 W / (m⋅K)).
- Best electrical conductivity coefficient.
- Best results on durability tests, even 100× better than welded interconnections.
- High re-melting temperature (> 400 ˚C).
Silver Sintering Process
Wire Bonding
Wire bonding is an electrical interconnection technique using thin wire and a combination of heat, pressure and/or ultrasonic energy.
Wire bonding is a solid phase welding process, where the two metallic materials (wire and pad surface) are brought into close contact. Once the surfaces are in contact, electron sharing or interdiffusion of atoms takes place, resulting in the formation of wirebond.
Wire Bonding Machine
The final assembly for SiC Power Module takes advantage of all these techniques, leading to a robust and reliable product.
AUREL SiC Power Module
PERFORMANCE
Modeling
SiC Power Module is modeled in terms of thermal and electrical behavior.
To reach highest efficiency all the details are mastered and implemented in numerical models.
Since every aspect of the design and manufacturing are held in AUREL, a direct characterization of the materials and electronic parts are performed and inserted into the models.
SiC Power Module Thermal Model
The electrical model is developed via mixed techniques, using design and experimental data from manufacturers of the SiC, to predict the exact behavior of the circuit given a specific application. This capability permits to give a quick prompt of the performances of the module in customer application.
SiC Power Module Electrical Modeling
The electrical design is the transferred to electrical CAD to model manufacturing parameters and produce a manufacturable Printed Circuit Board.
SiC Power Module Layout
Simulation
The model is then thermal and electrical simulated.
The result of the simulation are compared to the expected performance and iterated to reach best trade-off between requirements and manufacturability.
SiC Power Module Thermal Simulation
Statistics of already produced Power Models are compared to electrical simulation to verify performances through different lots. This method permits to correlate AUREL process and production capabilities to electrical design.
SiC Power Module Circuit Simulation
DATA SHEET
DOWNLOAD