Thermal management and reliability of multi-chip power modules

摘要

The most important requirements on power modules are high electrical insulation and effective dissipation of the thermal losses during operation. The placement of semiconductor components on metallized ceramics essentially solves the problem of electrical insulation safely and reliably. The aluminum oxide and nitride ceramics used possess a high thermal conductivity in addition to their high electrical insulation and thus contribute to effective dissipation of thermal losses from the chip. Connection of the module to a heat sink ensures heat dissipation from the module. An overview of thermal management solutions will be given with consideration of particular requirements such as high specific power dissipation, low maximum chip temperature and distribution of the parallel-connected heat sources on a large surface area. The temperature gradients between and within the chips are analyzed. Different methods of evaluating the chip temperature are considered.