Patent Grant
9245832
The present invention relates to a semiconductor module on which a circuit element, such as a power semiconductor element, is mounted.
A semiconductor module used for a power supply apparatus is widely applied for such consumer appliances as home air conditioners and refrigerators to such industrial equipment as inverters and servo controllers. To conserve power consumption in a semiconductor module, a power semiconductor element or the like is mounted on a circuit board, such as a metal base substrate or ceramic substrate. A semiconductor module is configured by mounting one or a plurality of circuit element(s) such as a power semiconductor element on a circuit board, adhering a plastic case frame and sealing with a silicone gel or epoxy resin.
On the other hand, a full mold semiconductor module made by a transfer molding method is used to reduce manufacturing cost (e.g. see Patent Document 1, identified further on). In a full mold semiconductor module, a lead frame and a heat sink are securely connected so as to ensure electric insulation.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H9-139461 (paragraph number 0038, FIG. 1)
In the case of the conventional full mode semiconductor modules of the first to fourth examples, the bonding wire 11 is directly bonded to the power semiconductor element 7 and the other end of the bonding wire 11 is bonded to an external lead terminal, such as the lead frame 9B for external connection, and current is supplied from the external lead terminal, therefore heat generated when the power semiconductor element 7 is operating is conducted to the bonding wire 11 and the external lead terminal, which heats an external printed circuit board connected with the external lead terminal.
If the printed circuit board is heated, temperature inside a case of a power converter, such as an inverter, which houses the printed circuit board, increases, exceeding the heat resistance temperature of members in the power converter. This temperature increase could be handled by an air cooling or a water cooling method, but if either method were used the dimensions of the power converter would increase, which results in a cost increase. Therefore it is necessary to effectively control the temperature increase inside the case of the power converter without increasing the dimensions and cost of the power converter, and as one such countermeasure, it is demanded to effectively control heat that is conducted from the semiconductor module to the external printed circuit board via the external lead terminals.
With the foregoing in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor module having a superb heat radiation performance that can efficiently control the heat conducted to the external printed circuit board via the external lead terminals, so as to meet the above mentioned demand for a countermeasure to control the temperature increase inside the power converter.
To achieve the object, a semiconductor module of the present invention includes: a metal block that has a first surface and a second surface; an insulation layer for heat radiation formed by directly depositing a ceramic material on at least the first surface of the metal block; an insulation layer for a relay electrode, formed by directly depositing a ceramic material on a part of the second surface of the metal block; a relay electrode formed by depositing a metal material on an upper surface of the insulation layer for the relay electrode; a circuit element bonded with the second surface of the metal block; and an external lead terminal, wherein a bonding wire or a lead frame from the circuit element is bonded with the relay electrode, and the relay electrode and the external lead terminal are connected.
According to this configuration, the bonding wire or the lead frame from the circuit element is bonded with the relay electrode, and the relay electrode and the external lead terminal are connected, whereby the circuit element and the external lead terminal are connected via the relay electrode.
Therefore heat that is generated when a circuit element, such as a power semiconductor element, is operating and transferred through the bonding wire or the lead frame, is conducted to the metal block, which has a high heat capacity and is superb in heat radiation performance, mainly via the relay electrode and the insulation layer for the relay electrode made of a ceramic material, hence the quantity of heat conducted to the external lead terminal can be sufficiently controlled.
As a consequence, according to the semiconductor module of the present invention, the quantity of heat that is conducted from the external lead terminal to the printed circuit board, for example, which is externally connected to the external lead termina, can be effectively controlled, and as a result the heating of the external printed circuit board can be effectively controlled.
It can be configured that the insulation layer for heat radiation covers at least a part of side surfaces connected to the first surface of the metal block.
It can also be configured that the insulation layer for heat radiation and the insulation layer for the relay electrode each have a thermal conductivity of 1 to 200 W/m·K and a thickness of 10 to 500 μm.
It can be configured that the insulation layer for heat radiation and the insulation layer for the relay electrode are each formed of at least one type out of a filler group consisting of silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, silicon nitride, aluminum nitride and boron nitride, and it can be configured that the insulation layer for heat radiation and the insulation layer for the relay electrode are each formed by depositing ceramic particles composed of at least one type out of the filler group by a plasma spraying method, or that the insulation layer for heat radiation and the insulation layer for the relay electrode are each formed by depositing ceramic particles composed of at least one type out of the filler group by an aerosol deposition method.
It can be configured that the relay electrode is formed by spraying copper particles as the metal material.
It can also be configured that the relay electrode and the external lead terminal are connected via a bonding wire or a lead frame.
It can be configured that the circuit element is a power semiconductor element.
According to this invention, heat that is generated when a circuit element, such as a power semiconductor element, is operating in the semiconductor module and is transferred through the bonding wire or the lead frame from the circuit element, is conducted to the metal block, which has a high heat capacity and is superb in heat radiation performance, mainly via the relay electrode and the insulation layer for the relay electrode made of a ceramic material, hence the quantity of heat conducted to the external lead terminal can be sufficiently controlled.
As a consequence, according to the present invention, the quantity of heat that is conducted from the external lead terminal to the printed circuit board, for example, which is externally connected to the external lead terminal, can be effectively controlled, and therefore the heating of the external printed circuit board can be effectively controlled.
This means that the semiconductor module according to the present invention is suitable for effectively controlling an increase in temperature inside the case of the power converter without increasing the dimensions and cost of the power converter.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, but modifications can be made within a scope that does not depart from the true spirit of the invention. In the following description with reference to the drawings, same portions or elements are denoted with a same reference symbol, unless otherwise specified.
In the configuration example in
In the semiconductor module 51, the metal block 1 is formed of copper, which is a metal material having good conductivity and thermal conductivity, and has a thickness of about 1.0 to 4.0 mm so that the heat capacity is high, and the heat radiation performance is superb.
In this semiconductor module 51, the insulation layer 2 for heat radiation, which is formed on the first surface 1a of the metal block 1, is made of a ceramic material having good thermal conductivity, such as aluminum oxide, silicon nitride, aluminum nitride or boron nitride. The thermal conductivity of the insulation layer 2 for heat radiation is preferably 1 to 200 W/m·K, and the thickness thereof is preferably 10 to 500 μm.
As described above, in the semiconductor module 51, the insulation layer 2 for heat radiation made of the ceramic material having good thermal conductivity is deposited on the first surface 1a of the metal block 1, on which the power semiconductor element 7 is mounted on the second surface 1b and which has high heat capacity and superb heat radiation performance, as described above, therefore the first surface 1a of the metal block 1 contacts an external heat sink for cooling (not illustrated) via the insulation layer 2 for heat radiation, whereby heat resistance of a lower area of the power semiconductor element 7 can be decreased sufficiently, and superb heat radiation performance can be implemented.
In the configuration example shown in
In the semiconductor module 51, the insulation layer 4 for the relay electrode, which is formed on the second surface 1b of the metal block 1, is also made of a ceramic material having good thermal conductivity, such as aluminum oxide, silicon nitride, aluminum nitride or boron nitride. The thermal conductivity of the insulation layer 4 for the relay electrode is preferably 1 to 200 W/m·K, and the thickness thereof is preferably 10 to 500 μm.
The relay electrode 3, which is formed on the upper surface of the insulation layer 4 for the relay electrode, is made of a metal material having good thermal conductivity, such as copper. The metal material constituting the relay electrode 3 is not limited to copper, but may be, for example, copper alloy, aluminum or aluminum alloy.
The semiconductor module 51 is sealed by molding resin 14, such as epoxy resin.
In
In the power converter 101, a main circuit is constructed by the power semiconductor element 7 in the semiconductor module 51, and the other circuits, such as a power supply circuit and a control circuit are constructed by electronic circuit components 115a, 115b, 115c or the like mounted on the printed circuit board 114 in the printed circuit board portion 111. For the electronic circuit components 115a, 115b and 115c, various components such as ICs, LSIs, resistors, capacitors and reactors are used.
The printed circuit board 114, which is partially illustrated in
The connection structure of the semiconductor module and the printed circuit board portion according to the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the configuration illustrated in
In the semiconductor module 51 in
In
In the semiconductor module 51 described above, the heat generated when the power semiconductor element 7 is operating can effectively be transferred to the metal block 1 via two heat transfer paths, as illustrated in
In
In
In the semiconductor module 151 according to the related art, the bonding wire 11 from the power semiconductor element 7 is directly connected to the lead frame 9 for external connection, therefore the heat conducted from the power semiconductor element 7 via the bonding wire 11 is directly transferred to the lead frame 9 for external connection. This means that in the case of the semiconductor module 151, the quantity of heat transferred to the printed circuit board portion 111A, which is connected with the lead frame 9 for external connection of the semiconductor module 151, cannot be controlled, hence heating of the printed circuit board 114A constituting the printed circuit board portion 111A cannot be controlled.
Whereas in the case of the semiconductor module according to the present invention, in a state of being incorporated into an electric apparatus such as a power converter, as described above, the quantity of heat that is transferred to the printed circuit board portion connected to the semiconductor module, out of the heat that is generated when the power semiconductor element in the semiconductor module is operating, can be controlled, and therefore heating of the printed circuit board or the like can be effectively controlled.
Now configuration examples of
A semiconductor module 51A illustrated in
A semiconductor module 51B illustrated in
A manufacturing method for the semiconductor module according to the embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to
First a copper plate with a 1.0 to 4.0 mm thickness is punched out into a square or rectangular shape by pressing, so as to create a metal block 1 (
Then a mask 21 is positioned and ceramic powder 22, such as aluminum oxide powder, is deposited by a spraying method or aerosol deposition method, so as to form the insulation layer 2 for heat radiation on the first surface 1a of the metal block 1.
For the insulation layer 2 for heat radiation, a first surface insulation layer 2a is formed on the first surface 1a of the metal block 1, and a side surface insulation layer 2b is formed on a part of the side surfaces 1c of the metal block 1. The side surface insulation layer 2b is formed so as to be connected with the first surface insulation layer 2a (
If the insulation layer is formed on the first surface 1a of the metal block 1 using a plasma spraying method, which is one spraying method, then one or more type(s), out of silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, silicon nitride, aluminum nitride and boron nitride, is(are) used for the ceramic powder. The insulation layer 2 for heat radiation is deposited by spraying the ceramic powder on the metal block 1 via the mask 21 in an air pressure or reduced pressure atmosphere.
As the insulation layer 2 for heat radiation, not only the first surface insulation layer 2a but also the side surface insulation layer 2b is formed on the metal block 1 by a plasma spraying method, therefore as illustrated in
The thickness of the insulation layer 2 for heat radiation can be adjusted by controlling the spraying time. The thickness of the insulation layer is preferably 10 to 500 μm. The insulation layer 2 for heat radiation that is formed like this has, for example, a 5 kV or more AC breakdown voltage at a 200 μm thickness as an insulation characteristic, and can therefore be used for a power element of which withstand voltage rating is 1200 V.
Now a case of depositing the insulation layer 2 for heat radiation on the first surface 1a of the metal block 1 by an aerosol deposition method will be described. The aerosol deposition method is a technique of aerosolizing particles or raw material of ultrafine particles mixing with gas and forming a film on a substrate via a nozzle. Helium or air is used for the gas. The apparatus can be constituted by an aerosolization chamber and a film deposition chamber (not illustrated). In the film deposition chamber, pressure is reduced to about 50 Pa to 1 kPa by a vacuum pump. The particle or ultrafine particle material, which is a raw material, is aerosolized by being stirred and mixed with gas in the aerosolization chamber in a dry state, transported into the film deposition chamber by the flow of gas that is generated due to the pressure difference between these chambers, accelerated while passing through a slit type nozzle, and sprayed onto the first surface 1a of the metal block 1, which is a film deposition target. For the raw material particles, mechanically pulverized ceramic particles (particle diameter: 0.1 to 2 μm) are used. The ultrafine particles which are transported by gas are accelerated to several hundred m/sec. while moving through the nozzle having a micro-opening in the pressure-reduced chamber. The film depositing speed and the density of the depositing film depend considerably on the particle diameter, the aggregation state, the drying state or the like of the ceramic particles that are used, hence a grinder and a classifier of aggregated particles is used between the aerosolization chamber and the film deposition chamber.
To form the insulation layer 2 for heat radiation as a film, ceramic particles (particle diameter: 0.1 to 2 μm) are sprayed on the substrate at high-speed, so that the ceramic particles are pulverized into fine crystal particles (about 10 to 30 nm) by the collision energy at this time, whereby a new surface is formed and activated, particles are bonded to each other, and as a result a ceramic film having a dense nanocrystal structure is formed. In the aerosol deposition method, the ceramic film can be formed under normal temperature without requiring special heating.
For the particles used for the aerosol deposition, it is preferable to use any one of aluminum oxide, silicon nitride, aluminum nitride and boron nitride, of which particle diameters are about 0.1 to 2 μm. To acquire the required film thickness, particles are sprayed for a predetermined time using the mask 21, whereby the insulation layer 2 for heat radiation, illustrated in
As the insulation layer 2, not only the first surface insulation layer 2a but also the side surface insulation layer 2b is formed on the metal block 1 by the aerosol deposition method, therefore just like the case of the above mentioned plasma spraying method, the ceramic particles are sprayed as the raw material powders 22 and 22A in a state where a part of the side surface 1c of the metal block 1 is exposed from the mask 21, as illustrated in
Here an aluminum oxide film may be formed with filler of any one of silicon nitride, aluminum nitride and boron nitride particles, or a silicon oxide film may be formed with filler of any one of silicon nitride, aluminum nitride and boron nitride particles. If these particles are used, the insulation layer in which two or more types of ceramics are combined can be formed.
The thickness of the insulation layer 2 for heat radiation is preferably 10 to 500 μm, just like the case of the spraying method. The insulation layer 2 formed like this has, for example, 5 kV or more of AC breakdown voltage at a 200 μm thickness as the insulation characteristic, therefore this layer can be used for a power element of which withstand voltage rating is 1200 V.
Then a mask 21A is also positioned on the second surface 1b of the metal block 1, and ceramic powder 22, such as aluminum oxide powder, is deposited by a spraying method or an aerosol deposition method, so as to form the insulation layer 4 for the relay electrode on the second surface 1b of the metal block 1 (
The materials of the ceramic particles used for forming the insulation layer 4 for the relay electrode and the method of forming the insulation layer are the same as the above mentioned insulation layer 2 for heat radiation, for both cases of the spraying method and the aerosol deposition method.
The thickness of the insulation layer 2 for the relay electrode is preferably 10 to 500 μm, just like the insulation layer 2 for heat radiation, whether the spraying method or the aerosol deposition method is used.
Then the relay electrode 3 (made of copper) is deposited on the insulation layer 4 for the relay electrode. To deposit copper, the plasma spraying method is used, just like the case of the insulation layer for heat radiation. In other words, the mask 21B is positioned on the insulation layer 4 for the relay electrode formed on the second surface 1b of the metal block 1, and copper particles 24 are sprayed to form the relay electrode 3 (
As a result, the insulation layer 2 for heat radiation is formed on the first surface 1a of the metal block 1, and the relay electrode 3 is formed on a part of the second surface 1b via the insulation layer 4 for the relay electrode, whereby an insulated metal block 5 is completed (
Then the power semiconductor element 7 is bonded with the second surface 1b of the metal block 1 of the insulated metal block 5 by solder 23 (
If a void remains in the solder layer 23 between the power semiconductor element 7 and the metal block 1, the thermal resistance increases, and the heat generated from the power semiconductor element 7 cannot be efficiently radiated. Therefore to prevent the generation of a void, vacuuming to 1.3 kPa (10 Torr) or less is performed in a state where solder is melted.
Then the power semiconductor element 7 and the relay electrode 3 are connected via the bonding wire 11a (
Then the relay electrode 3 and the external lead terminal 9 are connected via the bonding wire 11b (
Then the assembly illustrated in
Since the epoxy resin 14 is cured in several tens of seconds once it is filled in, the epoxy resin 14 is immediately removed from the metal mold, and sealing is completed by performing post-curing in a thermostatic chamber (
In the above described semiconductor module according to the present invention, the bonding wire or the lead frame from a circuit element, such as a power semiconductor element bonded with the second surface of the metal block, is bonded with the relay electrode first, and then the relay electrode and the external lead terminal are connected. Therefore heat that is generated when the circuit element is operating, and is transferred through the bonding wire or the lead frame from the circuit element, is conducted to the metal block, which has a high heat capacity and is superb in heat radiation performance, mainly via the relay electrode and the insulation layer for the relay electrode made of ceramic material having good thermal conductivity, hence the quantity of heat conducted to the external lead terminal can be sufficiently controlled.
As a consequence, in the semiconductor module according to the present invention, the quantity of heat that is conducted from the external lead terminal to the printed circuit board, for example, which is externally connected to the external lead terminal, can be effectively controlled, and therefore the heating of the external printed circuit board can be effectively controlled. This means that by using this semiconductor module, an increase in temperature inside the case of the power converter can be effectively controlled without increasing the dimensions and cost of the power converter.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-158288 | Jul 2012 | JP | national |
This application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C. 120 of International Application PCT/JP2013/004300 having the International Filing Date of Jul. 11, 2013, and having the benefit of the earlier filing date of Japanese Application No. 2012-158288, filed Jul. 17, 2012. All of the identified applications are fully incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8754510 | Minamio et al. | Jun 2014 | B2 |
| 20110044009 | Fukuda et al. | Feb 2011 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| S55-36915 | Mar 1980 | JP |
| H05-109940 | Apr 1993 | JP |
| H09-139461 | May 1997 | JP |
| H09-275676 | Oct 1997 | JP |
| 2000-156439 | Jun 2000 | JP |
| 2007-305772 | Nov 2007 | JP |
| 2011-114010 | Jun 2011 | JP |
| Entry |
|---|
| Japanese Office Action dated Nov. 25, 2015. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20150028462 A1 | Jan 2015 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP2013/004300 | Jul 2013 | US |
| Child | 14512368 | US |
