Abstract
Silver sintering is receiving increasing attention due to its novel die-attach technique for high-temperature power electronics. Excellent thermal conductivity, high melting point/remelting temperature and low-temperature sintering behaviors of the silver sintered attachment meet the requirements of high-temperature applications for power devices, specifically SiC devices. The merits and demerits of the existing pressure-assisted sintering and pressure-less sintering techniques using nano-scale, micro-scale and micro-nano-scale hybrid silver sintered materials are separately presented. The emerging rapid sintering approaches, such as the electric-assisted approach, are briefly introduced and the technical outlook is provided. In addition, the study highlights the importance of creating a brief resource guide on using the correct sintering methods.
Highlights
The high-temperature operation of power modules strongly depends on the performance of power devices at high temperatures
In the traditional Si-based power modules, die-attach materials, such as Pb95Sn5 and Pb92.5Sn5Ag2.5, cannot meet the reliability requirements for packaging power devices for high-temperature applications owing to the creep-fatigue concerns [6,7,8]
Substrate-attach materials, such as Sn96.5Ag3Cu0.5, which have a lower melting temperature than the solder used as die attachment further limit the reliability of SiC power modules for high-temperature applications [9,10]
Summary
The high-temperature operation of power modules strongly depends on the performance of power devices at high temperatures. In the traditional Si-based power modules, die-attach materials, such as Pb95Sn5 and Pb92.5Sn5Ag2.5, cannot meet the reliability requirements for packaging power devices for high-temperature applications owing to the creep-fatigue concerns [6,7,8]. Substrate-attach materials, such as Sn96.5Ag3Cu0.5, which have a lower melting temperature than the solder used as die attachment further limit the reliability of SiC power modules for high-temperature applications [9,10]. Achieving a robust die attachment required a high sintering pressure of approximately 30-80 MPa because of the low diffusion ability among micro-silver flakes [17]. The thermal conductivity (240 W/m · K) of the sintered silver was reported to be about 3 times higher than the conventional high-lead solders and met the heat-dissipating requirements of SiC power devices [19]. Power Devices a brief resource guide on using the correct sintering methods can be helpful
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