Comparison of FEA Techniques for Estimation of Power Module Parasitics

Finite element analysis (FEA) is a commonly used technique to estimate the parasitics of semiconductor packaging structures such as multi-chip power modules (MCPMs). The shift towards faster switching speeds and smaller packaging has led to increased interest in characterizing these parasitics in order to predict their impact on system behavior and device reliability. Several commercial software packages are available that can be employed in support of these goals. This paper seeks to compare and quantify the performance and accuracy of two software packages commonly used for this purpose - namely ANSYS Q3D extractor and COMSOL Multiphysics. A module-like structure with a flexible terminal configuration is used as a test article to support this analysis.