Reliability and Lifetime Estimation of Sintered Silver Die Attach for Different Accelerated Testing Conditions

Abstract

The paradigm change from empirical lifetime models to a physics-of-failure based approach for automotive power electronics is driven by need for higher power densities. Hence, the usage of wide-bandgap semiconductor materials is necessary. This is accompanied by higher requirements on the packaging technologies, especially the die attach, in terms of electrical, thermal and mechanical properties. A die attach material meeting these demands is sintered silver which is already widely-used in automotive power electronics. In this study, passive thermal cycling experiments for different die sizes are performed and corresponding finite element simulations are used to find relative correlations.