Large-area Bonding with LMEE: Suppression of the Degradation of the Junction-to-Water Thermal Resistance in Power Modules

Abstract:
This paper investigates the junction-to-water thermal resistance (Rth) durability of power modules (PMs) during the thermal shock test (TST), in which the PMs were subjected to the thermal cycle from −40 °C to 125 °C with dwell time 20 min for up to 1000 cycles. The PMs contained silicon carbidepower devices, and were bonded to a water cooler by using liquid metal embedded elastomers(LMEE). The bonding was performed at 150 °C for 30 minutes under a pressure of 0.1 MPa. The Rthshowed no significant degradation during the TST. This indicates that LMEE is a good candidate as abonding material for PM-and-cooler assembly for enhancing its durability.