A little over a year ago, I posted about the increase in interest regarding Cu sintering. In the past 12 months, that interest has has surged, highlighting Cu sintering's suitability for various applications and its benefits when compared to current mainstream materials like AuSn and Ag sinter. But what is driving this interest and what role does Cu sinter play in shaping the future of power electronics, e-mobility and even space exploration?
The Growing Popularity of Cu Sintering
The appeal of sintered Cu as an interconnect material lies in its balance of performance, reliability, and cost efficiency. Mainstream materials for high power density, high-reliability applications, such as AuSn and Ag sinter, have long track records, but they each have limitations. AuSn, while highly reliable and offering low thermal resistance due to thin bondlines, is very expensive. This can prevent its adoption for applications requiring large scale deployment. Ag sintering, currently the material of choice for SiC die-attach in power modules for inverters used in EVs and renewable energy systems, faces some concerns with Ag migration, which has a potential impact to long-term reliability. Cu sintering, however, offers a lower-cost option that eliminates Ag migration concerns without sacrificing thermal/power cycling reliability or mechanical strength.
Indium Corporation’s Cu Sinter Paste
At Indium Corporation, innovation is in our DNA. We believe that materials science changes the world, and this is apparent in our Cu sinter solutions. Whether its a tailored material for specific applications, or a process development than unlocks the full benefits of Cu as a bonding material, Indium Corporation is pushing the boundaries of Cu sinter.
InFORCE®29
Developed for pressure sintering applications, InFORCE®29 offers a robust, die-attach solution for power modules. It is ideally suited for SiC die-attach to ceramic AMB substrates in EV inverters. By utilizing Cu sintering instead of Ag sintering, there can be multiple layers of cost savings, the material cost is significantly less, plus, there is no longer a need for Ag plating on the substrates. Any concerns with Ag migration are eliminated with no negative impact to joint strength, thermal cycling, or power cycling reliability. InFORCE®29 paves the way for highly-reliable and highly-cost-efficient power electronics.
InBAKE™29
This family of pastes combines innovation with versatility, both in the material and its uses. InBAKE™29 can be used in a pressureless sinter process, ideal for die-attach of power semiconductors with high power density requiring high thermal conductivity, such as in power amplifiers and high-power LEDs, that cannot be pressure sintered. InBAKE™29 can also be used in a pressure-assisted sinter process, where the addition of pressure during sintering helps to accelerate the sintering process.
Ever-expanding Applications and Opportunities
The potential for Cu sintering is undoubtably huge. The benefits are clear, and for this reason, there is huge effort already underway to adopt Cu sintering in power electronics, particularly for die-attach in power modules for EV inverters, as this material choice offers a cost-efficient, high-performance, high-reliability solution. Beyond EVs, thanks to their balance of cost and high performance, both the InBAKE™29 and InFORCE®29 families are well positioned to address needs in renewable energy and energy storage systems, AI and high-performance computing, automation and advanced robotics, and beyond. Thanks to the high thermal conductivity of sintered Cu, the low thermal resistance, and the high mechanical strength of a Cu-to-Cu bond, InBAKE™29 has been proven suitable for bonding power modules to a heat-sink in inverter assemblies that will be travelling into space. Indium Corporation’s Cu sinter materials are not only innovative, they’re out of this world!
You can learn more about Indium Corporation and the full range of material solutions available at www.indium.com. Contact me at dpayne@indium.com if you are interested in learning more about InFORCE®29, InBAKE™29 or any of Indium Corporation’s sintering solutions.