Thermo-mechanical simulations of SiC power modules with single and double sided cooling

Abstract

Effectively removing dissipated heat from the switching devices enables a higher current carrying capability per chip area ratio, thus leading to smaller or fewer devices for a given power requirement specification. Further, the use of SiC based devices has proven to increase the efficiency of the system thereby reducing the dissipated heat. Thermal models have been used to compare SiC power modules. Single and double sided cooling have been simulated. The simulated maximum temperatures were 141 °C for the single sided version and 119.7 °C for the double sided version. In addition, the reliability of a single sided module and thermally induced plastic strains of a double sided module have been investigated. A local model of the wire bond interface to the transistor metallization shows a 30/00 maximum increase in plastic strain during the power cycle. Simulations of the creep strain rates in the die attach solder layer for a power cycling loads also shows a 30/00 increase in creep strain per cycle.