Thermal transient characterization methodology for single-chip and stacked structures

High-power semiconductor packages typically exhibit a 3D heat flow, resulting in large lateral changes in chip and case surface temperature. For single-chip devices we propose to use an unambiguous definition for the junction-to-case thermal resistance as a key parameter, based on a transient measurement technique with much higher repeatability, also for very low thermal resistances compared to a two-point thermal resistance measurement. The technique is illustrated on thermal transient measurements of power MOSFETs. A comparison between different thermal coupling to the ambient is used to demonstrate the method´s capability to reveal even subtle internal details of the package. The concept is extended to multichip and stacked-chip structures, where transfer impedances have to be introduced. Here, the dynamic properties of the package are important and complex impedance mapping is the proper way to characterize the package.