• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.17-25
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• 2017

Recently, research and application for a power module have been actively studied according to the increasing demand for the production of vehicles, smartphones and semiconductor devices. The power modules based on the transient liquid phase (TLP) technology for bonding of power semiconductor devices have been introduced in this paper. The TLP bonding has been widely used in semiconductor packaging industry due to inhibiting conventional Pb-base solder by the regulation of end of life vehicle (ELV) and restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS). In TLP bonding, the melting temperature of a joint layer becomes higher than bonding temperature and it is cost-effective technology than conventional Ag sintering process. In this paper, a variety of TLP bonding technologies and their characteristics for bonding of power module have been described.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.9-15
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• 2018

This paper shows the principles and characteristics of the transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding technology for power modules packaging. The power module is semiconductor parts that change and manage power entering electronic devices, and demand is increasing due to the advent of the fourth industrial revolution. Higher operation temperatures and increasing current density are important for the performance of power modules. Conventional power modules using Si chip have reached the limit of theoretical performance development. In addition, their efficiency is reduced at high temperature because of the low properties of Si. Therefore, Si is changed to silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN). Various methods of bonding have been studied, like Ag sintering and Sn-Au solder, to keep up with the development of chips, one of which is TLP bonding. TLP bonding has the advantages in price and junction temperature over other technologies. In this paper, TLP bonding using various materials and methods is introduced. In addition, new TLP technologies that are combined with other technologies such as metal powder mixing and ultrasonic technology are also reviewed.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.452-455
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• 2009

A cost-effective route to synthesize $\beta$-SiAlONs from Si mixtures by reaction bonding followed by post-sintering was investigated. Three different z values, 0.45, 0.92 and 1.87, in $Si_{6-z}Al_zO_zN_{8-z}$ without excess liquid phase were selected to elucidate the mechanism of SiAlON formation and densification. For RBSN (reaction-bonded silicon nitride) specimens prior to post-sintering, nitridation rates of more than 90% were achieved by multistep heating to $1400^{\circ}C$ in flowing 5%$H_2$/95%$N_2$; residual Si was not detected by XRD analysis. An increase in density was acquired with increasing z values in post-sintered specimens, and this tendency was explained by the presence of higher amounts of transient liquid phase at larger z values. Measured z values from the synthesized $\beta$-SiAlONs were similar to the values calculated for the starting compositions. Slight deviations in z values between measurements and calculations were rationalized by a reasonable application of the characteristics of the nitriding and post-sintering processes.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.247-255
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• 2000

Silicon carbide with sialon was prepared by hot pressing and transient liquid-phase sintering, and the effects of sintering atmosphere and starting phases on their microstructural characteristics were investigated. The sintered SiC with Sialon composition(Y2O3, AlN, Si3N4) in argon atmosphere had high sintered density and large aspect ratio. But sintered specimens in nitrogen atmosphere showed low aspect ratio and small grian size, becuase of the retardation of phase transformation and grain growth. Addition of Y-Sialon powder to SiC also retarded the phase transformation to ${\alpha}$-SiC from ${\beta}$-SiC and densification. The SiC specimen prepared from the starting ${\beta}$-SiC powder with Sialon composition(Y2O3, AlN, Si3N4) showed the highest fracture toughness about 6.0 MPa$.$m1/2.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.71-79
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• 2021

In this study, we have successfully fabricated the Sn-Ni paste and evaluated the bonding properties for high-temperature endurable EV (Electric Vehicle) power module applications. From evaluating of the micro-structural changes in the TLPS (Transient Liquid Phase Sintering) joints with Sn and Ni contents in the Sn-Ni pastes, a lack of Ni powders and Ni particle agglomerations by Ni surplus were observed in the Sn-20Ni and Sn-50Ni joints (in wt.%), respectively. In contrast, relatively dense microstructures are observed in the Sn-30Ni and Sn-40Ni TLPS joints. From differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermal analysis results of the fabricated Sn-Ni paste and TLPS bonded joints, we confirmed that the complete reactions of Sn with Ni to form Ni-Sn intermetallic compounds (IMCs) at bonding temperatures occurred, and there is no remaining Sn in the joints after TLPS bonding. In addition, the interfacial reactions and IMC phase changes of the Sn-30Ni joints under various bonding temperatures were reported, and their mechanical shear strength were investigated. The TLPS bonded joints were mainly composed of residual Ni particles and Ni₃Sn₄ intermetallic phase. The average shear strength tended to increase with increasing bonding temperature. Our results indicated a high shear strength value of approximately 30 MPa at a bonding temperature of 270 ℃ and a bonding time of 30 min.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.200-210
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• 2009

It is necessary to minimize the mismatch of sintering shrinkage between dielectric ceramic and Ni inner electrode layers for the purpose of developing the ultra high-capacity multi layered ceramic condenser(MLCC). Thus, low temperature sintering of dielectric $BaTiO_3$ ceramic should be precedently investigated. In this work, the influence of the milling condition on sintering behavior and electrical properties of $BaTiO_3$ ceramics was investigated in the $BaTiO_3$(BT)-Mg-Dy-Mn-Ba system with borosilicate glass as a sintering agent. As milling time increased, specific surface area(SSA) of the powder increased linearly, while both sinterability and dielectric property were found to be drastically decreased with an increasing SSA. It was also revealed that the sinterability of the excessively milled $BaTiO_3$ ceramics could be recovered by increasing Ba content, rather than increasing glass addition. These results suggest that the sintering behavior of $BaTiO_3$ ceramics under the high SSA was more strongly dependent on the transient liquid phase caused by Ba addition, than the liquid phase from additional glass.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.60-65
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• 1994

When a commercial prealloyed Fe-powder(Fe-5Cr-lMo-2Cu-0.5P-3C) is liquid phase sintered at 116$0^{\circ}C$, liquid precipitates with various shapes form within solid grains during the initial stage of sintering. The shape of a liquid precipitate changes pith the increment of their size from sphere(with radius<0.3$\mu\textrm{m}$), a transient polyhedron with more than 7 faces(1~2 $\mu\textrm{m}$), cuboid(3~5 $\mu\textrm{m}$), and finally to sphere(>5 $\mu\textrm{m}$). The shapes of liquid precipitates closely resemble the growth shapes predicted on the basis of solid-liquid interfacial energy and the coherency strain energy with anisotropic elastic constants in the diffusion zone around the precipitates.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.503-508
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• 2010

$Eu^{2+}$-doped $\beta$-SiAlONs ($Si_{6-z}Al_zO_zN_{8-z}:Eu_y$) are recognized as promising phosphor materials to build an white LED for lighting application due to its excellent absorption/emission efficiency in the long wave length region. In this research, the fabrication of $\beta$-SiAlON:Eu plate phosphor by sintering was investigated with fixed Eu content(y) and varied composition of the host lattice(z). The addition of the activator $Eu_2O_3$ lead to enhanced densification by forming the transient liquid phase. The refinement of a composition by the calculated lattice parameter indicated that the measured composition of the fabricated specimens is nearly same to that of designed one. The single phase $\beta$-SiAlON:Eu plate with relative density of 96.4% was achieved by addition of 2 wt% CaO, which implies the possibility of full densification by adjusting the processing variables.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.7-13
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• 2019

Power module is getting attention from electronic industries such as solar cell, battery and electric vehicles. Transient liquid phase (TLP) boding, sintering with Ag and Cu powders and wire bonding are applied to power module packaging. Sintering is a popular process but it has some disadvantages such as high cost, complex procedures and long bonding time. Meanwhile, TLP bonding has lower bonding temperature, cost effectiveness and less porosity. However, it also needs to improve ductility of the intermetallic compounds (IMCs) at the joint. Wire boding is also an important interconnection process between semiconductor chip and metal lead for direct bonded copper (DBC). In this study, TLP bonding using Sn-based solders and wire bonding process for power electronics packaging are described.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.21-24
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• 2006

Based on the improvement in reinforcing SiC fibers and the utilization of very fine nano-SiC powders, the well known liquid phase sintering (LPS) process was drastically improved to become a new process called the Nano Infiltration and Transient Eutectic Phase (NITE) Process. Laboratory scale NITE-SiC/SiC composites demonstrated excellent mechanical properties, thermal conductivity, hermeticity and microstructure stability which made them attractive for not only energy application but many other industrial applications. For the real deployments of these materials, mass production system and evaluation methods, together with the design code and safety assurance systems are essential. The current efforts to establish these bases were introduced.