Effect of high-temperature storage at 300 °C on sintered layer using micro-sized Ag particles for high-temperature packaging technology

As a recent trend, the silicon carbide (SiC) is of particular interest for semiconductor device. The SiC power device provides the possibility to develop the next-generation power conversion circuit with high efficiency and high power density. Compared with the conventional silicon (Si) device, the SiC device can operate with significant lower power loss and higher operating temperature, which contributes to miniaturization and higher performance of power modules. To assemble these power modules, the high temperature packaging technology such as die attach process is needed. As a die attach process, we focus on a sintering process using metal particles, which can be operated at a low temperature. However, some drawbacks of this technology still remain. Recently, the bonding process using the micro-sized Ag particle paste has been studied for die attach process. In this study, the effect of high-temperature storage at 300°C on sintered layer using chestnut-burr-like micro-sized Ag particles was investigated. And we studied about the relationship between the microstructure of sintered layer during high-temperature storage and the shear strength of the sintered joint. It was found that the sintered layer was clearly coarsened during high-temperature storage and a unique layer was formed. And the microstructure of sintered layer showed a relationship with the shear strength.