Effect of solder voids on thermal performance of a high power electronic module

A high-power automotive electronic module is evaluated thermally for assessing the impact of solder voids on the temperature of the silicon die during transient operations. Voids are present in the solder between the silicon die and the copper heat spreader due to out-gassing during solder reflow process. The solder voids are modeled explicitly to resolve spatial temperature gradients. The computational model without solder voids is first compared with the experimental data and then extended to account for solder voids. It is shown that there can be profound impact of solder voids on the temperature of the silicon die depending on the size and void fraction of the solder voids, but the effect of void distribution is not very significant. Hence, it is imperative to ensure that the package is free from the solder voids for high power transient applications