4. Materials and manufacturing
The performance of an enclosure is intrinsically linked to the materials it's made of: joining two materials with very different coefficients of expansion degrades the reliability of the whole. Conversely, it's impossible to choose materials solely on the basis of their coefficient of expansion, since thermal and electrical performance must also be taken into account, as well as price. It's clear, then, that case design is all about finding the best compromise, and that this is highly dependent on the intended application.
In the rest of this paragraph, we'll list the various components of a power module, focusing on the main materials used. The same applies to discrete packages, even if they only include a subset of these elements (no insulating substrate, for example).
4.1 Chip
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Materials and manufacturing
Design
Bibliography
- (1) - Indium Corp - Alloys sorted by temperature. - Liste d'alliages de brasure http://www.indium.com/products/alloy_sorted_by_temperature.pdf
- (2) - DUPONT (L.) -...
Digital tools
In addition to power electronics "circuit" simulation tools such as Saber (editor: Synopsys), the design of power modules requires mechanical-thermal calculation resources. These include Ansys (Ansoft) and Comsol Multiphysics (Comsol), both based on the finite element method.
To optimize electrical performance, it is useful to be able to calculate the parasitic elements of the circuit, particularly...
Events
At European level, there are two main power electronics conferences, which include sessions on packaging: EPE (European Power Electronics) and PCIM (ower Conversion Intelligent Motion). The former is more research-oriented, while the latter is aimed more at industry, even if the boundary is sometimes blurred in a field as applied as power electronics.
Packaging is also discussed at power electronics conferences...
Regulations
European RoHS Directive (Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances) Directive 2002/95 bans hazardous substances in electronic systems http://www.rohs.gov.uk
Directory
Manufacturers – Suppliers – Distributors (non-exhaustive list)
Power modules: ABB, Dynex, Eupec, International Rectifier, IXYS, Microsemi, Mitsubishi, Semelab, Semikron
Discrete power components: Fairchild Semiconductor, Fuji Semiconductor, Infineon, International Rectifier, Microsemi, NXP, ON Semiconductor, ST Microelectronics, Toshiba, Vishay
The list of power module...
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