Innovative metal system for IGBT press pack modules

Author

Gunturi, S. ; Assal, J. ; Schneider, D. ; Eicher, S.

Author_Institution

ABB Switzerland Ltd., Switzerland

fYear

2003

fDate

14-17 April 2003

Firstpage

110

Lastpage

113

Abstract

Two important design aspects encountered in IGBT press pack modules used for HVDC applications are short circuit failure mode (SCFM) and intermittent operating life (IOL) capabilities. The requirement that press-pack IGBT (PPI) fail safely into a short causes a design conflict with the module´s desired capability to survive a high number of power cycles in normal operation. An innovative materials design to optimize this trade-off is described. The failure mechanism that leads to an open circuit after the PPI has operated extensively in SCFM was found to be liquid metal corrosion of the baseplate followed by the formation of intermetallics with poor conductivity and silicone gel degradation. The beneficial effects of dry interface plating materials to avoid thermomechanical fatigue under IOL conditions are described.

Keywords

HVDC power convertors; insulated gate bipolar transistors; integrated circuit design; integrated circuit metallisation; integrated circuit reliability; multichip modules; semiconductor device metallisation; HVDC application; IGBT press pack module; IOL capability; PPI; SCFM; baseplate; dry interface plating material; failure mechanism; insulated gate bipolar transistor; intermetallics formation; intermittent operating life; liquid metal corrosion; metal system; open circuit; power cycle; press-pack IGBT; short circuit failure mode; silicone gel degradation; thermomechanical fatigue; Circuits; Conducting materials; Conductivity; Corrosion; Degradation; Design optimization; Failure analysis; HVDC transmission; Insulated gate bipolar transistors; Intermetallic;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs, 2003. Proceedings. ISPSD '03. 2003 IEEE 15th International Symposium on

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7876-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ISPSD.2003.1225242

Filename

1225242