A Wire-Bondless Packaging Platform for Silicon Carbide Power Semiconductor Devices

As silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductor devices continue to mature for market adoption, innovative power electronics packaging designs and materials are needed. Wire-bonding loop is one of the limiting factors in traditional module packaging methods. Wire-bondless packaging methods have been demonstrated with low losses and to allow integration of gate drive circuit. In this paper, a wire-bondless packaging platform, referred to as power overlay kiloWatt (POL-kW), for SiC devices is presented. The packaging platform is intended for motor drives and power conversion in automotive, aerospace, and renewable power applications. POL-kW module's electrical and thermal performances are first summarized from previous experimental evaluations and numerical simulations. Although some of the evaluations were made using Si and Si–SiC hybrid modules, the results are applicable to SiC modules. Compared with aluminum wire-bonds, the utilization of polyimide-based Cu via interconnections resulted in much reduced parasitic inductance, contributing to significantly lower switching loss and less voltage overshoot. The POL-kW module with integrated heat sinks showed low thermal resistance, which was further reduced by double-sided cooling. Recent reliability results are presented, including high-temperature storage, temperature cycling, and power cycling.