Thermo-Mechanical Design Considerations in 3D-Integrated SiC Power Device Package

F. Patrick McCluskey1, He Yun1, Clifton Edward Buxbaum1, Sevket Yuruker1, Raphael Mandel1, Michael
Ohadi1, Yongwan Park2, Shiladri Chakraborty2, Alireza Khaligh2, Lauren Boteler3, and Miguel Hinojosa3
1
Dept of Mechanical Engineering, Clark School of Engineering, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742;
2
Dept of Electrical & Computer Engrg, Clark School of Engineering, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD
20742
3
U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD 20783
Email: mcclupa@umd.edu

realized these advantages and started incorporating AM into

ABSTRACT
Wide bandgap semiconductors, such as silicon carbide (SiC),
have properties that allow them to surpass the performance of
conventional silicon (Si) semiconductors in power electronic
applications. Placing these wide bandgap devices in 3D-
integrated packaging structures offers potential for significant
power density increases as well. This paper addresses the
thermo-mechanical design considerations in such a package
containing a full bridge DC-DC converter with multifunctional
heat sinks directly bonded to bare-die SiC MOSFET’s, as well
as additively manufactured transformer windings. This
structure is accomplished by developing and incorporating
innovative design practices with additive manufacturing
technology and multi-functional elements that will serve
combined mechanical, electrical, and thermal functions. The
following critical elements of this innovative converter are
highlighted: the demonstration of a syringe-printed transformer
winding using nano-silver paste, and flip-chipped SiC
switching devices bonded via Ag-In based transient liquid
phase sintering (TLPS).
KEY WORDS: SiC switching device, additive manufacturing,
nano-silver paste, TLPS
INTRODUCTION
Power converters are an essential part of electro-mechanical
systems, such as those used in applications in renewable
energy, electric vehicles, and electric aircraft that often require
the capability of reliable operation over wide temperature
ranges (e.g. -55 to 250℃). The traditional power packaging,
designed for Si devices, is now the limiting factor in fully
realizing the performance benefits offered by SiC power device
technology. Power packaging has a number of opportunities
for improvement including, but not limited to, improving
reliability through the elimination of traditional structures such
as wire bonds [1], increased utilization of 3D packaging instead
of 2D planar packaging [2, 3], and moving from standard
subtractive manufacturing to additive manufacturing (AM).
AM has been considered as a sustainable and flexible
manufacturing technique due to reduced material waste and the
capacity to realize complex printed shapes. Researchers have
power electronics. Yi Yan et.al. FDM (fused deposition model)
-printed a planar inductor [4]; Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(ORNL) DMLS (direct metal laser sinter) -printed an aluminum
heat sink for a 10 kW power inverter [5]; Christian Goth et.al.
aerosol jet-printed prototypes for molded interconnect devices
(MID) [6]; Wei Liang et.al. SLA (stereolithographically)-
printed an air-core inductor [7]. Hence, it is believed that
additive manufacturing could also be useful for creating the
planar transformer windings in a power converter, as well as in
reducing the losses generated by its coils and core.
Additionally, flip-chip die-attach has also been used in this
converter to replace wire bonds during the SiC device bonding
process to eliminate the reliability concerns of wire-bonds,
which account for up to 15% of failures [8]. Finding a suitable
die attach that is reliable in high temperature environments,
however, is challenging.
PACKAGE CONCEPT
Circuit Design
The packaging of the converter, the schematic for which is
shown in Fig. 1, is key to achieving the power density goals. It
consists of a full-bridge stage on the primary side and another
full-bridge stage on the secondary side of transformer. This
converter is designed for 600 V to 800 V at a power rating of
10 kW with 97% efficiency.
Figure 1. Schematic of full-bridge DC-DC converter
System Configuration
The packaging consists of the following three sub-
assemblies: 1) main power board shown in Fig. 2, 2) control
interface board, and 3) control card board. The main power
board contains the majority of the components, including eight
SiC switches placed on a polyimide substrate with eight cooling
modules (i.e. microchannel heat sinks) attached on their
backsides, a planar transformer with windings syringe-printed

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on a multi-functional cooling module and substrate, twelve
capacitors, and the gate drivers. Next to the transformer on
either side, a micro-controller and auxiliary power module
(APM) are placed on the control interface board. This design
allows the whole package volume without housing to be
reduced to 0.56 liter (165 mm wide x 111 mm long x 35 mm
high), permitting a power density of roughly 18.2 kW/L.
The entire system is built around a 10 kW planar transformer.
The transformer is composed of two internally cooled 3D-
printed alumina modules attached to each side of the main
power board, having nano-silver paste syringe-printed primary
windings on the top of the upper cooler and secondary windings
on the bottom of the lower cooler. Since the transformer is
actively cooled [9], and the SiC switches can operate at elevated
temperatures, concerns associated with mounting them directly
on the high temperature PCB are alleviated. The switching
devices are connected to the windings of the planar transformer
and to positive and negative busses located on the left and right
side of the package, respectively.
(a)
(b)
Figure 2. (a) Plan view, (b) side view of the CAD model of the
main power board used for this SiC based DC-DC converter
The required footprint area to place all these components
side by side on the polyimide substrate is ~ 0.016 m2. However,
in reality, there should be enough space between the
components to allow for electrical and thermal isolation while
also facilitating the fabrication (soldering) and thermal
management. Also, some electrical requirements will require
specific component arrangements. Some of the assumptions
and constraints in layout design are presented as follows: (1)
components can be placed on both sides of the boards; (2) the
gate-drivers are placed on the polyimide substrate; (3) electro-
thermal co-design approaches are employed to ensure that the
layout of the gate drivers optimizes electrical performance
considering geometric, thermal, and reliability effects.
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Flip-chip Bonding Process
Wolfspeed (CREE) CPM2-1200-0025B 1200V, 50A silicon
carbide power MOSFETs are chosen as the switches for this
application. The source and gate pads (top side) are metallized
with Al and the drain pad (bottom side) is metallized with
Ni/Ag. In order to make the source and gate pads solderable, a
process for depositing a new metallization layer was developed
based on the process used by Hopkins et al [10]. The switches
are placed under an aluminum mask (shown in Fig. 3) designed
and fabricated for use in an AJA ATC 1800 sputtering unit. The
top sides of the switches are then plasma cleaned inside the
sputtering unit to remove the aluminum oxide layer. After
plasma cleaning, 300 nm Ti, 300 nm Ni, and 1000 nm Ag are
deposited. Fig. 4 shows the switches after metallization. The
new metallization adheres well to the source and gate pads,
allowing for solder joints without delamination. The solid
aluminum mask significantly reduces the cost of the process,
and the yield with regards to short circuits between the gate and
source is approximately 90%.
After the switches are metallized, they are connected to the
heat sinks and substrate. First, a 0.25 mm molybdenum spacer
is connected to the heat sink using Ag80-In20 TLPS to alleviate
the thermo-mechanical stresses induced by CTE mismatch
between the copper heat sink and the SiC devices. The bottom
side of each switch is then connected to the molybdenum spacer
via Pb-5Sn-2.5Ag solder. The entire stack is then connected to
the substrate via SAC305 solder. The connection includes
copper pads between the switch pads on the substrate for
additional mechanical stability. Fig. 5 shows the stacked
connection between the substrate, switch, and heat sink.
Figure 3. Mask used in metallization
Figure 4. Switch after metallization
 Table 1. Properties of the nano-silver paste

Parameters of nano-silver Approx.

paste
Porosity <30%
Density > 7.9 g/cm3
Viscosity ~300,000 cps
CTE 19.6 x 10-6/℃
Melting temperature 961℃
Sintering temperature 250℃
Elastic modulus 10 to 30 GPa
Electrical resistivity <2.6 x 10-6 Ω∙cm
Thermal conductivity >200 W/mK

Based on common designs of transformer windings, the

width for each trace is selected from a range of 0.8 to 2.9 mm,
while the spacing between two traces is set from 0.3 to 1.0 mm.
In total, 32 groups were planned for test. Fig. 6 shows a CAD
model of a group that was syringe-printed at room temperature
as straight lines with different widths and gaps on an alumina
baseplate, followed by the specific sintering profile shown in
Fig. 7 to obtain a considerable bonding strength.

Figure 5. Diagram of SiC switch connected to substrate and

heat sinks

TRANSFORMER
Syringe printing is the additive manufacturing method used
for printing the transformer windings. A design of experiments
was conducted to determine the possible trace widths and
pitches for the chosen paste that would maintain continuous
traces and even surfaces without shorting between lines. The
different gaps between two printed traces with a certain range
of width were tested to examine whether two traces would
contact each other or not.
Figure 6. CAD model of syringe-printed trace sample
Material and Test Plan
In order to facilitate high temperature use up to 250℃, a
ceramic substrate made of 96% alumina was selected to be the
baseplate. A nano-silver paste, purchased from NBE Tech,
LLC, with relatively low electrical resistivity, high thermal
conductivity, and low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE)
compared to that of alumina (7-8 ppm/℃), was chosen to be the
material used to create the syringe-printed windings. The
properties of this paste are provided in Table 1.

Figure 7. Sintering profile of the nano-silver paste

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Test Results
The test results are summarized in Table 2. Symbol x means
the two traces under the corresponding settings touch each
other, making shorting a failure mode. For example, when the
width of each trace is selected to be 0.8 to 1.0 mm, a spacing of
0.3 mm is unreachable as the two traces will contact resulting
in shorting. Fig. 8, corresponding to Group 17, gives a failed
example. In the figure, the two traces with width of 2.6 mm
touch each other on the top. Symbol ✓ indicates the sample
survived, (i.e. no contact between the two traces). Further probe
tests are needed to verify the shorting. Symbol P means pending
(i.e. the tests have been not performed yet). All the test syringe-
printed traces after sintering have been examined by using a (a)
microscope. Some of the surviving samples are shown in Fig. 9
(a) – (f). These are the results of Group 16, 14, 13, 24, 19, and
32. Especially for the Fig. 9 (e) – group 19 - with the width of
2.6 mm for each trace, a minimum spacing of 0.5 mm can be
realized. This is a relatively ideal design for achieving a 10 kW
full bridge SiC DC-DC converter [9].

Table 2. Summary of test results

Width Spacing between two traces (mm)
of
each
trace 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 (b)
(mm)
0.8 -
1.0
X X X X X P P P
2.2 -
2.3 X X P P P ✓ ✓ ✓
2.4 -
2.5 X X ✓ P ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
2.8 -
2.9 X X ✓ ✓ P P ✓ ✓

(c)

Figure 8. Group 17, a failed example with shorting issue

found (d)

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(e)
(f)
Figure 9. Survived samples without shorting
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
In this work the following items have been discussed:
• A full bridge DC-DC converter with a power level of
10 kW has been developed in an advanced module that
provides improvements in packaging density, size and
weight over current module technologies.
• Manufacturability of transformer windings with
regards to spacing and short circuit failures was
considered and tested.
• A reduced-size power loop incorporating multi-
functional thermal and electrical buses, Ag-In TLPS,
and bare-die SiC MOSFET switches has been
introduced.
In future work, this power module will continue to be optimized
with respect to thermal, electrical, and packaging aspects.
Validation of the reliability of the package will be conducted
using a series of accelerated qualification and operational tests
including temperature cycling tests, power cycling tests, and
shock and vibration tests.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank U.S. Army Research
Laboratory for funding this work as a part of Silicon Carbide
Advanced Packaging of Power Semiconductors II Program, as
well the Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering
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(CALCE) at the University of Maryland for providing the
experimental and processing facilities. Special thanks go to
Prof. Siddhartha Das and Mr. Beihan Zhao for assistance with
the ink jet printing.
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