Top side isolation investigation of PCB embedded 1.2kV dies

The embedding of power electronics components into the PCB increases their thermal and electrical performance. Due to lower parasitic inductances and a lower thermal resistance, the overall power density of the system can be increased. However, there is a lack on studies about the reliability of PCB embedded power electronics, especially under humidity stress. This study uses test vehicles with functional diodes embedded into the PCB. The reliability of the test vehicles is studied under HV-H3TRB conditions. A critical leakage current is observed after 200h with a benzoxazine based prepreg and after 600h for an epoxy based prepreg. A root- cause analysis revealed lift-off of the polyimide layer and subsequent electrochemical corrosion as failure mechanism. The delamination is most likely triggered by the Au surface on the chips top metal pad. A second set of test samples was fabricated using an improved surface treatment before lamination. 75% of these samples passed the 1000h H3TRB test successfully.