On the Way to Zero Defect of Plastic-Encapsulated Electronic Power Devices—Part I: Metallization

Concerning thermomechanically induced failures, such as metal line deformation and passivation cracks, there is a practicable way to achieve the zero-defect limit of plastic-encapsulated power devices. This limit can be reached by evaluating the influence of the major components involved and, consequently, by selecting the appropriate materials and measures. On the other hand, the interdependence between all components must always be kept in mind, i.e., chip and package have to be regarded as an entity. An important finding was that applying simply one improvement step will not necessarily lead to the desired goal. Only the implementation of all improvement steps considering their interdependence is the key for the perfect overall system chip and package. In Part I of this series of papers, the yield stress of the power metallization is shown to play a crucial role for the generation of metal deformation and passivation cracks. Understanding the ratcheting mechanism led to the development of a new layered metallization material with a distinctly increased yield stress, resulting in a considerably reduced failure generation.