The present invention relates to a power semiconductor module.
A structure of a conventional semiconductor module is described in, for example, PTL 1. In the semiconductor module of PTL 1, an insulating substrate 4 is installed on an upper surface of a heat dissipation plate 2, and a semiconductor chip 6 is installed on an upper surface of the insulating substrate 4. The heat dissipation plate 2 is installed on a cooler 12, and a thermal conductive grease 14 is applied between the heat dissipation plate 2 and cooler the 12. PTL 1 discloses that the heat dissipation plate 2 and the cooler 12 can be reliably brought into contact with each other via the thermal conductive grease 14 by forming a portion of the heat dissipation plate 2 on the cooler 12 side into a convex shape.
PTL 1: JP 2005-39081 A
However, it is unclear whether the structure disclosed in PTL 1 is in a state after the heat dissipation plate 2 and the cooler 12 are fixed by screw fastening or a state before screw fastening. However, if the structure disclosed in PTL 1 described above is in the state after the heat dissipation plate 2 and the cooler 12 are fixed by screw fastening, it is considered that a gap is generated between the cooler 12 and the heat dissipation plate 2 under a semiconductor chip 6, and it is not possible to efficiently dissipate heat generated from the semiconductor chip 6 to the cooler 12 via the heat dissipation plate 2.
In addition, if the structure in PTL 1 is in the state before the heat dissipation plate 2 and the cooler 12 are screw-fastened together, the heat dissipation plate 2 is mechanically warped by the screw fastening between the heat dissipation plate 2 and the cooler 12, so that there is an effect of reducing a gap with respect to the cooler 12, and it is possible to expect improvement of heat dissipation. On the other hand, since the gap between the heat dissipation plate 2 and the cooler 12 is reduced by the screw fastening, it is considered that the pump-out in which the thermal conductive grease 14 interposed in the gap between the heat dissipation plate 2 and the cooler 12 is discharged to the outside due to a temperature history when the power semiconductor module is used is likely to occur.
Considering the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a power semiconductor module that secures a space capable of accumulating a thermal conductive grease disposed between a heat dissipation plate and a cooler while securing a sufficient contact area between the heat dissipation plate and the cooler.
According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a power semiconductor module includes a base plate, a semiconductor chip mounted on a first main surface of the base plate, and a heat sink connected to a second main surface of the base plate. A chamfered portion is provided at an end portion of at least one side of the second main surface. In a state where the base plate is fixed to the heat sink, when a cross section of the base plate is viewed, an inclination of the second main surface of the base plate is discontinuous at a boundary between the chamfered portion and a region of the second main surface of the base plate other than the chamfered portion, and an angle formed between a bottom surface of the chamfered portion of the base plate and a surface of the heat sink on a side where the base plate is fixed is 5° or more and 30° or less.
A more specific configuration of the present invention is described in the claims.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a power semiconductor module that secures a space capable of accumulating a thermal conductive grease disposed between a heat dissipation plate and a cooler while securing a sufficient contact area between the heat dissipation plate and the cooler. This makes it possible to dissipate heat from the power semiconductor chip to the cooler and to suppress an occurrence of a situation in which the thermal conductive grease interposed at an interface between the heat dissipation plate and the cooler leaks to the outside during an operation of the power semiconductor module.
Objects, configurations, and advantageous effects other than those described above will be clarified by the descriptions of the following embodiments.
Hereinafter, embodiments of a power semiconductor module in the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
A main terminal 17 is connected to the semiconductor chip 11 and exposed to the outside of the power semiconductor module 100a. In addition, semiconductor chips 11 are connected by wire bonding 18.
In the power semiconductor module 100a, for example, a plurality of semiconductor chips 11 is fixed to an insulating substrate 13 via a solder under chip 12, and the insulating substrate 13 is fixed to the base plate 15 via a solder under substrate 14. Note that, although not illustrated, a pattern of a wiring layer is formed on the insulating substrate 13. Note that, although
A sealing resin 16 is formed on the base plate 15 to cover the entirety of the semiconductor chip 11, the solder under chip 12, the insulating substrate 13, the solder under substrate 14, and the wire bonding 18 and cover a portion of the main terminal 17. A thermal conductive grease 21 is disposed between the base plate 15 and the heat sink 22.
This will be described with reference to
In the present embodiment, four semiconductor chips 11 are provided, and the four semiconductor chips 11 are mounted on one insulating substrate. The base-plate chamfered portion end 15b is formed on four sides of the base plate 15. That is, the base-plate chamfered portion 15a is continuously formed on each of the four sides of the surface 15d of the second main surface of the base plate 15 other than the chamfered portion so as to be connected to each other. Further, the base-plate chamfered portion end 15b is located outside each semiconductor chip 11. Since the chamfered portion 15a of the base plate is not in contact with the heat sink 22, the chamfered portion 15a is preferably disposed such that a portion of the chamfered portion 15a, which is not in contact with the heat sink 22, does not overlap with the semiconductor chip 11.
The base plate 15 has a base plate fixing hole 15c for screw-fastening with the heat sink 22. When centers 15f of base plate fixing holes 15c at the four corners are joined to each other by a straight line, the base-plate chamfered portion end 15b is located on an opposite side of the side on which the semiconductor chip 11 is provided. That is, the base-plate chamfered portion end 15b is outside a region surrounded by joining the centers 15f of the base plate fixing holes 15c at the four corners to each other by a straight line. The effect of this configuration will be described later.
The material of the insulating substrate 13 and the base plate 15 is not particularly limited, but a ceramic substrate made of AlN is preferable as the insulating substrate 13, and Cu (copper), Al (aluminum), AlSiC, MgSiC, and the like are preferable as the material of the base plate 15.
Note that the present embodiment discloses an example in which four semiconductor chips 11 are formed on one insulating substrate 13, but a plurality of insulating substrates may be used, or different numbers of semiconductor chips 11 may be used. In addition, although the example in which the base plate fixing holes 15c are at the four corners has been described, fixing holes may be additionally provided other than the four corners.
The operation of the present embodiment will be described below. A structure in which a region A where the chamfered portion 15a of the base plate 15 is provided and a region B where the chamfered portion 15a of the base plate 15 is not provided are connected such that the inclination of the bottom surface of the base plate 15 is discontinuous has been disclosed.
With this structure, since the inclination is discontinuous, a gap is secured between the base plate 15 and the heat sink 22 at the portion that is the base-plate chamfered portion 15a even after the base plate 15 and the heat sink 22 are fixed by screwing or the like. Therefore, even if the thermal conductive grease 21 between the base plate 15 and the heat sink 22 tries to flow out to the outside when the semiconductor chip 11 repeats a cycle of increasing and decreasing the temperature by repeating the operation and stop, it is possible to store the thermal conductive grease 21 in a region sandwiched between the chamfered portion 15a and the heat sink 22. Thus, it is possible to suppress an occurrence of a situation in which the thermal conductive grease 21 flows out of the power semiconductor module 100a.
In addition, if the thermal conductive grease 21 is stored in the region sandwiched between the chamfered portion 15a and the heat sink 22, not air but the thermal conductive grease 21 stored in the sandwiched region is sucked when the temperature rises and the base plate 15 tries to be separated from the heat sink 22. Thus, air hardly enters between the surface 15d of the second main surface of the base plate 15 other than the chamfered portion and the heat sink 22, voids are hardly generated, and thus it is possible to suppress an increase in contact thermal resistance between the base plate 15 and the heat sink 22.
In order to store the thermal conductive grease 21 in the region between the base-plate chamfered portion 15a and the heat sink 22 even when the thermal conductive grease 21 corresponding to this volume leaks to one side surface of the power semiconductor module 100a, the volume of a space between the chamfered portion 15a and the heat sink 22 is 100 mm×5 mm×0.5 mm÷2=125 mm3 if a region having L2 of 100 mm in
The angle α at this time is about 5.7° from L1 of 5 mm and the height H of 0.5 mm. Therefore, the angle α is desirably, for example, 5° or more. In order to secure a certain degree of tolerance with respect to the leaking thermal conductive grease 21, the height H may be set to 2.5 mm and the angle α may be set to 26.6°. However, when the angle further increases, the thermal conductive grease 21 accumulated between the base-plate chamfered portion 15a and the heat sink 22 flows out due to a surface tension relationship, so that the angle α is desirably 30° or less at maximum.
As illustrated in
Further, the configuration in which the base-plate chamfered portion end 15b is located on the outer side than the center 15f of the base plate fixing hole 15c is disclosed. In a case where the base-plate chamfered portion end 15b reaches the inside of the base plate fixing hole 15c in the periphery of the base plate fixing hole 15c, when the power semiconductor module 1 is screwed, a force pushing down the outside of the base plate fixing hole 15c of the base plate 15, that is, a force lifting up the inside of the base plate fixing hole 15c acts. Thus, a gap is likely to be generated between the surface 15d of the second main surface of the base plate 15 other than the chamfered portion and the heat sink 22, and thermal resistance may be increased. In addition, a large stress may be generated in the vicinity of the base plate fixing hole 15c, and the base plate 15 may be damaged. Therefore, at least in the periphery of the base plate fixing hole 15c, the base-plate chamfered portion end 15b is located on the outer side than the center 15f of the base plate fixing hole 15c, so that it is possible to suppress an increase in thermal resistance and deterioration in reliability.
An operation of the power semiconductor module in the present embodiment will be described below. The present embodiment discloses a configuration in which, in the region other than the periphery of the base plate fixing hole 15c, the base-plate chamfered portion end 15b enters the region surrounded by joining the centers 15f of the base plate fixing holes 15c at the four corners to each other by a straight line. In the present embodiment, when the upper surface of the power semiconductor module is viewed, the chamfered portion 15a can be provided near the semiconductor chip 11. Thus, it is possible to increase the volume for accommodating the leaked thermal conductive grease 21. Therefore, it is possible to sufficiently secure a volume for accommodating the thermal conductive grease at a smaller angle α.
On the other hand, since the main path through which the heat generated from the semiconductor chip 11 is dissipated to the heat sink 22 is also secured in the configuration of the present embodiment, the influence on the thermal resistance is small.
Further, the present embodiment discloses a structure in which the chamfered portion 15a of the base plate 15 is not formed around the base plate fixing hole 15c. With this structure, when the base plate fixing hole 15c is screwed, a force pushing down the base plate 15 outside the base plate fixing hole 15c does not act, that is, a force pushing up the base plate 15 inside the base plate fixing hole 15c does not act. Thus, a gap is hardly generated between the surface 15d of the second main surface of the base plate 15 other than the chamfered portion and the heat sink 22, and the thermal resistance is not increased. Further, a load is less likely to be applied to the vicinity of the base plate fixing hole 15c, and the reliability is not deteriorated.
An operation of the power semiconductor module in the present embodiment will be described below. The chamfered portions 15a formed on the four sides of the base plate 15 in Embodiment 1 are reduced such that the chamfered portions 15a are formed on two sides in the present embodiment. Since the temperature of the thermal conductive grease 21 increases and the viscosity decreases due to the heat generation of the semiconductor chip 11, the thermal conductive grease 21 is more likely to leak from the side on the side where the distance between the semiconductor chip 11 and the side surface of the base plate 15 is small (the short side of the base plate 15 in
Note that, in the present embodiment, the base-plate chamfered portions 15a are provided on the two sides on the short side of the base plate 15. However, when the power semiconductor chip 11 is disposed at a position closer to the long side than the short side of the base plate 15, if the chamfered portions 15a are provided on the two sides on the long side, it is possible to effectively suppress the leakage of the thermal conductive grease to the outside.
An operation of the power semiconductor module in the present embodiment will be described below. The chamfered portions formed on the two sides in Embodiment 3 are reduced such that the chamfered portion is formed on one side in Embodiment 4. On the side directed upward during mounting among the sides of the base plate 15, even though the thermal conductive grease 21 leaks due to the pump-out, flowing out of the thermal conductive grease 21 is prevented by being blocked by a component (for example, the base plate 15 itself) located below. Therefore, as in the present embodiment, by providing the base-plate chamfered portion 15a at least on the side directed downward during mounting among the sides of the base plate 15, the region for storing the thermal conductive grease 21 is formed, so that the downward leakage of the thermal conductive grease 21 is suppressed.
Also in the present embodiment, similarly to Embodiment 1, in a state where the base plate 15 is fixed to the heat sink 22, when the cross section of the base plate 15 is viewed, the inclination of the second main surface of the base plate 15 is discontinuous at the boundary (position of the chamfered portion end 15b) between the chamfered portion 15a and the surface 15d of the second main surface of the base plate 15 other than the chamfered portion, and the angle α formed by the bottom surface 15e of the chamfered portion 15a of the base plate 15 and the surface of the heat sink 22 (upper surface of the heat sink 22) on the side where the base plate 15 is fixed is 5° or more and 30° or less.
An operation of the power semiconductor module 100b in the present embodiment will be described below. Before screwing, the surface 15d of the second main surface of the base plate 15 other than the chamfered portion protrudes toward the heat sink 22 in a spherical shape. With this structure, the base plate is bent and fixed at the time of screwing. The reaction force at this time can increase an adhesive force between the base plate 15 and the heat sink 22, and it is possible to increase heat dissipation performance.
In addition, even though the surface 15d of the second main surface of the base plate 15 other than the chamfered portion protrudes in a spherical shape, the inclination is discontinuous with the base-plate chamfered portion 15a, and thus a space can be provided between the base-plate chamfered portion 15a and the heat sink 22 even after screw fastening. Therefore, even though the pump-out occurs during the operation, it is possible to store the thermal conductive grease 21, and to suppress the leakage of the thermal conductive grease 21 to the outside.
The structure in which the surface 15d of the second main surface of the base plate 15 other than the chamfered portion protrudes in a spherical shape and is connected to the base-plate chamfered portion 15a at the base-plate chamfered portion end 15b is disclosed. The chamfered portion 15a is chamfered substantially linearly. This effect is advantageous in that machining cost can be reduced by machining the base-plate chamfered portion substantially linearly rather than machining the entire surface of the base plate 15 into a spherical shape.
As described above, according to the present invention, it has been described that it is possible to provide a power semiconductor module that secures a space capable of accumulating a thermal conductive grease disposed between a heat dissipation plate and a cooler while securing a sufficient contact area between the heat dissipation plate and the cooler.
Note that the embodiments of the power semiconductor module in the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings. The specific configuration is not limited to the embodiments and the design changes and the like without departing from the gist of the present disclosure are included in the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2021-100765 | Jun 2021 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2022/019698 | 5/9/2022 | WO |