2

Selection Procedure
The following factors must be considered during the selection process:

Thermal
Electrical
Mechanical
Chemical
Cost
Maturity

The thermal factor plays the key role, due to the following issues:
Thermal stress During a thermal fatigue or a temperature-cycling
environmental test, each material tends to expand and contract according to its own coefcient of thermal expansion (CTE). Because
the materials are all bonded together, each will exert thermal stress
on the others. Any stress in excess of the materials mechanical
strength will result in cracks.
Thermal conduction During operation, the power semiconductor
chips generate heat that must be removed effectively through the
substrate/base-plate assembly so that the junction temperature of
the power chips will stay within the desired level. The lower the
junction temperature, the more reliably the module will function.
The rate of failure mechanisms accelerates as temperature increases,
roughly double for every 9C rise. The module must therefore be
properly thermally managed.15
The selection of materials is an iterative process. A list of thermal, electrical,
mechanical, and chemical requirements for each part is generated based on
the following factors:

Theoretical analysis
Product analysis from different suppliers
Published information
Past experience

2005 by CRC Press LLC

Under each category of material, the commonly used and the latest types
are listed in relation to their thermal, electrical, mechanical, and chemical
properties and to their maturity and cost. From these lists, a group of materials is selected that satises all or most of the established requirements.
Thermal analyses on stress and conduction are performed on the theoretical
stack of Figure 1.1. The selections are adjusted until the calculated stress and
the temperature rise are within the desired level. Figure 2.1 illustrates this
procedure. The different stack designs in Chapter 5 are based on this
approach.

SELECTION OF MATERIAL
(Substrate, metallization, base plate, semiconductor chips, bonding material)

Theoretical
Stack with Selected
Materials

Thermal
conduction
analysis

Thermal stress
analysis
Fail

Fail

Temperature
rise
OK?

Stress
OK?

Pass

Pass

Selection
OK
FIGURE 2.1
Selection of material (substrate, metallization, baseplate, semiconductor chips, bonding material).
2005 by CRC Press LLC

References
1. Sergent, J.E. and Krum, A., Thermal Management Handbook for Electronic Assemblies, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1998.
2. Harper, C.A., Electronics Packaging and Interconnection Handbook, 2nd edition,
McGraw-Hill, New York, 1997.
3. Licari, J.L. and Enlow, L.R., Hybrid Microcircuit Technology Handbook, 2nd edition, Noyes Publishing, Park Ridge, NJ, 1998.
4. Robins, M., Thermal management materials and design, Electronic Packaging
and Production, Oct. 2000.
5. Motorola, Inc., Thermal modeling and management of discrete surface mount
packages, Motorola Report, 1996.

2005 by CRC Press LLC