EV Inverter Power Module Trench Layout for Thinner Sinter Layers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Inverters for electric vehicles face challenges with heat management and design flexibility due to incorrect operation of power modules, which can compromise performance, and existing components and materials may restrict design advantages and increase costs.
Innovation Solution
A power module design incorporating a trench feature in the metallization layer of the substrate, allowing for a thinner sinter element thickness of 25-50 μm, which improves thermal performance and reduces assembly costs while maintaining high voltage isolation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a thicker sinter element is used to ensure voltage isolation, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and assembly cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from ensuring voltage isolation through increased thickness (one dimension) to achieving it through trench depth (another dimension). The trench structure provides electrical isolation by creating a physical barrier that separates high voltage and low voltage regions, allowing the sinter element thickness to be reduced while maintaining isolation reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The trench is strategically positioned at the boundary between high voltage and low voltage regions, providing localized electrical isolation where it is most needed. This localized approach to isolation allows the sinter element to be thinner overall while maintaining adequate isolation at critical interfaces.
2Reliability
If a thicker sinter element is used for voltage isolation, then reliability is improved, but thermal performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the thermal isolation conflict by moving the isolation function to the trench dimension rather than increasing thickness. This allows heat to conduct more efficiently through the thinner sinter element while the trench provides the necessary electrical isolation, thus improving thermal performance while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the isolation mechanism from thickness-based to trench-depth-based, fundamentally altering the geometric parameters. This parameter change allows the sinter element thickness to be optimized for thermal performance while the trench depth is optimized for electrical isolation, decoupling the two previously conflicting requirements.
3Ease of manufacture
If standard components and materials are used in power module design, then manufacturing is simplified, but design flexibility is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the substrate into distinct high voltage and low voltage regions using trenches, allowing independent optimization of each region. This segmentation enables designers to select appropriate components and materials for each voltage domain without being constrained by a single standardized configuration, thereby improving design flexibility while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
By allowing different materials and component configurations in different regions (high voltage vs. low voltage areas), the design achieves local optimization. This localized approach enables tailored material selection and component placement for specific functional requirements while maintaining overall manufacturing simplicity through a systematic design framework.
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes: an inverter, wherein the inverter includes: a power module including: a flex layer including a gate trace, a first substrate, a second substrate including a source plane and a gate plane separated from the source plane by a full trench, the source plane including a step trench, and the gate plane including an electrical connection through the gate trace of the flex layer to a gate input connection of the power module, a semiconductor die disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate, the step trench formed in a portion of the source plane corresponding to at an edge of the semiconductor die, and the semiconductor die including a gate connected to the gate plane, and a sinter element disposed between the semiconductor die and the second substrate to connect the semiconductor die to the second substrate; a battery; and a motor.