Thermomechanical Analysis and Characterization of a Press-Pack Structure for SiC Power Module Packaging Applications

This paper presents an experimental methodology for the characterization of thermomechanical displacement and friction properties in a free-floating press-pack structure, and evaluation of the tensile stress on the semiconductor die through simulation of different mechanical and thermal loading conditions. The press-pack structure consists of a single silver-metallized (1 μm) silicon carbide die (400 μm) in contact with rhodium-coated (0.4 μm) molybdenum square plates. The thermomechanical displacements in the press-pack structure have been obtained using the digital image correlation technique, and the mean random error has been ±0.1 μm, which is approximately 10 ppm of the measured length (10.5 mm). The developed experimental method has led to an analytical estimation of friction coefficients on the interfaces' silicon carbide-molybdenum and molybdenum-copper. The results demonstrate that the thin silver layer behaves as a solid film lubricant. A 2-D finite-element model representing the experimental setup has been implemented. The difference in displacement between measurement and simulation is less than 8%. Furthermore, the coinfluence of the design parameters on the thermomechanical performance of the stacked structure has been analyzed through simulations. Finally, design guidelines to reduce the tensile stress on the silicon carbide die have been proposed regarding free-floating press-pack power electronics packaging.