Printed circuit board embedded power semiconductors: A technology review

Embedding power semiconductor devices into printed circuit boards (PCB) provides several benefits compared to conventional packaging technologies. Integrating the semiconductor dies into the circuit board reduces the converter size. This results in short current loops, enabling low interconnection resistances and parasitic inductances. Both contribute to a higher system-level efficiency, as conduction and switching losses are reduced. Moreover, the use of thick Cu substrates allows efficient heat removal, due to a low thermal resistance. Therefore, PCB embedding has received a lot of attention in the power electronics community for more than a decade. This article aims to provide a comprehensive review of the scientific literature on the topic ranging from basic fabrication technology over module or system-level demonstrators for electrical and thermal testing to reliability studies. Performance indicators, such as the commutation loop inductance L_σ, the chip area independent thermal resistance R_th  ×  A_chip, allow a comparison of different approaches and benchmarking with conventional power modules. Several publications report stray inductances below 1 nH and chip area independent thermal resistances in the range of 20…30 mm²K/W.