Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
7887384 Ceramics International 2018 29 Pages PDF
Abstract
The effect of temperature cycling from −40 to 250 °C on active metal brazing (AMB) substrates for power modules was investigated using newly developed silicon nitride ceramics with both high thermal conductivity of 140 W m−1 K−1 and superior fracture toughness of 10.5 MPa m1/2. Other types of AMB substrates made of AlN or Si3N4 were also tested for comparison. Both visual inspection and acoustic scanning microscopy (ASM) observation of the new Si3N4-AMB substrates after 1000 cycles revealed almost no cracks. In contrast, the Si3N4-AMB substrates with lower fracture toughness experienced crack initiation beneath the corner of the copper plate. The degradation in the bending strength after 1000 cycles was negligible for the new Si3N4-AMB substrates, whereas the bending strength of the other substrates decreased gradually with each thermal cycle. The endurance of the AMB substrates to thermal fatigue could be improved significantly by employing the new tough Si3N4 with high thermal conductivity.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Materials Science Ceramics and Composites
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