In automotive applications such as electric vehicles and aerospace, power module packaging technologies have been experiencing extensive changes as novel SiC power devices with superior performance become commercially available. Novel 3D packaging technologies need to be developed to support high-speed switching, thermal management, high-temperature operation, and high voltage isolation for such applications. The trend towards novel soft switching power converters is giving rise to the need for unconventional packaging solutions with the need to support lower power loss, higher drive frequency and supporting higher temperature, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Packaging needs for Automotive Electronics
This is a relatively new research area for PRC that we have started focusing on since 2019. The current research focus is on high voltage mold compounds, integrated cooling, die attach interconnections and machine learning to investigate new packaging architectures that include the investigation of new materials and interfaces, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: PRC Focus: 3D stacked power module for automotive