Power module package having excellent heat sink emission capability and method for manufacturing the same

Abstract

A power module package includes a power circuit element, a control circuit element, a lead frame, an aluminum oxide substrate having a heat sink and an insulation layer, and a sealing resin. The control circuit element is electrically connected with the power circuit element to control chips within the power circuit element. The lead frame has external connection terminal leads in its edge and has a first surface to which the power circuit element and the control circuit element are attached and a second surface which is used as a heat transmission path. The heat sink is a plate made of metal such as aluminum and the electrical insulation layer is formed at least on an upper surface of the heat sink and made of aluminum oxide. The electrical insulation layer may be formed over an entire surface of the heat sink. Here, the insulation layer is attached to the second surface by an adhesive, on a region below where the power circuit element is attached, to the first surface of the lead frame. In addition, the sealing resin encloses the power circuit element and the control circuit element, the lead frame, and the metal oxide substrate and exposes the external connection terminals of the lead frame.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-66176, filed on Aug. 21, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to a semiconductor package, and more particularly, to a power module package having excellent heat transfer characteristics. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] Generally, a semiconductor package is manufactured in the following way: one or more semiconductor chips, such as power semiconductor devices or integrated circuits, are mounted on a lead frame or a printed circuit board (PCB), then sealed with an epoxy molding compound (EMC) for protecting the chips, and the packaged chips are mounted on a mother board or a PCB for a system. As used hereinafter the word “chip” means a semiconductor power device or...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0018] The present invention provides a power module package and a manufacturing method thereof, with excellent heat dissipation ability and a simpler and lower cost method of automated manufacture.

[0019] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power module package and a manufacturing method thereof, capable of reducing manufacturing costs and reducing the thickness of a substrate or a heat sink so that it has appropriate characteristics for a power module package. The invention includes a heat sink that has a core or central element made of metal and a one or more electrical insulating layers comprising a compound of the metal and one or more other elements, in particular, an oxide of the metal on the core or central element.

Problems solved by technology

But power circuit chips generate much more heat than the heat generated by integrated circuits or control chips.

As such, the heat sinking ability of the power module package 10 is limited by the lower EMC 2.

Those skilled in the art understand that there is often a tradeoff between the electrical insulating ability of a molding compound and its thermal conductivity.

Accordingly, a manufacturing process of the power module package 10 is complex and costly.

However, the ceramic heat sink 150 has a thermal conductivity of about 24 W / m·K, so that its heat sinking ability is not as good as metal, and further, ceramic is more expensive than metal.

Still further, there is limit on how thin one can make a ceramic heat sink because ceramic is brittle and will crack if it is too thin.

However, the ceramic plate 251 of DBC substrate 250 still has a lower thermal conductivity than metal and the ceramic plate 251 is still about 635 μm thick so that the manufacturing cost of the DBC process is high.

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