Design and characterization of a post-processed copper heat sink for smart power drivers

Heat sinks of various geometries have been post-processed by copper electroplating on top of large area power drivers to improve thermal management. The efficiency of the heat sink was quantified by energy capability (EC) measurements. Thermal as well as electro-thermal simulations backed up experimental results. A 25 pm thick copper layer improved EC with approx. 25%, translating into a driver area reduction by the same amount for EC critical applications.

[1]  Eric Beyne Cu interconnects and low-k dielectrics, challenges for chip interconnections and packaging , 2003, Proceedings of the IEEE 2003 International Interconnect Technology Conference (Cat. No.03TH8695).

[2]  P. Gassot,et al.  Analysis and application of energy capability characterization methods in power MOSFETs , 2004, Proceedings of the 30th European Solid-State Circuits Conference (IEEE Cat. No.04EX850).

[3]  Claudio Contiero,et al.  Sub-millisecond energy handling capability improvement of IC power devices with thick copper metallization , 2003, ISPSD '03. 2003 IEEE 15th International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs, 2003. Proceedings..

[4]  D. S. Campbell,et al.  Thermal failure in semiconductor devices , 1990 .

[5]  D. Wunsch,et al.  Determination of Threshold Failure Levels of Semiconductor Diodes and Transistors Due to Pulse Voltages , 1968 .