Packaging trends and mounting techniques for power surface mount components

One of the fastest growing areas in surface mount is in power electronics applications such as motor control and power supplies. These applications which have been traditionally through-hole have discovered the advantages of surface mount. The increased availability of surface mount power semiconductors, new substrates and other components has many of the newer power designs converting to surface mount technology. This paper shows trends in discrete power packaging and then addresses some of the concerns that arise when using packages such as the SOT-223, DPAK, D²PAK, D³PAK, and SOIC packages. Details of these packages are discussed as well as thermal capabilities and mounting techniques as they relate to power electronics