Electro-thermal simulation of a semiconductor power switch considering damage effects

The thermal performance of electronic semiconductor components in automotive applications has always been one of the main challenges for electronic packaging. Interface or bulk fractures in the die attachment are failure modes that can have a significant impact on the thermal performance of the device. Especially for high power switching devices, the transient thermal performance is an important aspect and often the limiting factor for a product. In this paper, we are demonstrating an approach towards transient electro-thermal simulation of systems containing Freescale power switch components at realistic operating conditions. Process induced mechanical defects such as cracks in the bondline of a power die are considered in the physical model of the devices. Behavioral models are extracted for high speed transient system level analysis by means of model order reduction [1-3]. The impact of the degree of damage on the thermal performance of a device is simulated at a system level in time domain. The simulation results are compared and verified with high speed infrared imaging measurements. A conclusion and a summary are closing the paper.