Development of Printed Power Packaging for a High Voltage SiC Module

Abstract

Due to rapidly developing post silicon power devices, in particular SiC and GaN, three primary parameters in power packaging: temperature, voltage and current, are much more difficult to manage. The SiC devices are being developed for high voltage (>15kV). The GaN devices will have extremely low internal resistance, operate at extreme current densities (≫10A/mm2), and can account for <50% of the resistance in a power module. Both devices can operate at high temperatures (>300°C) and >10-times frequency compared to Si. The traditional power electronics packaging approaches need augmentation or replacement. Most technologies used in packaging of power electronic systems, or more generally Electronic Energy Systems, are ported from microelectronics. The recent development of printable 3D circuit techniques, e.g. jetting and dispensing, provide additional major approaches applicable to power packaging. Some printing techniques are already applied to solar cells and batteries. This paper explores the printable electronics technologies for application to power.