Overview of Finite-Element Analysis in Simulation of SiC Power Device Packaging

Abstract

The development of silicon-based high-power devices, e.g. IGBTs, has reached its application limits in terms of high-temperature and high-frequency harsh operating conditions. Wide bandgap (WBG) power devices (such as silicon carbide, SiC) are currently one of the most promising power devices for replacement. Due to their intrinsic bandgap, SiC high-power devices have proven their superior performance in high-frequency and high-temperature working scenarios. With the increasing demand of high-power semiconductor devices in industries such as new-energy vehicles, high-speed railway systems, and aerospace, the conditions of SiC power semiconductor devices have become more and more complex, which brings challenges to electronic packaging technology. Due to thermal management and reliability requirements for SiC power devices, customized advanced heat dissipation structures, and high-temperature soldering materials have been introduced in power device packaging technology. The reliability verification of these new electronic packaging technologies is often time-consuming and labor-intensive, so designers hope to obtain results consistent with actual experimental data through the utilization of computer-aided design methods, such as finite-element analysis (FEA), which will greatly reduce the number of iterations of physical prototypes and the development time. This article reviewed and discussed the application of FEA in the latest packaging technology, including the extraction of the thermal resistance network of the SiC power module, the thermal simulation of the novel efficient cooling structure, the thermo-mechanical analysis of the high-temperature packaging material, and the long-term reliability FEA of the SiC power devices.