Our partners from Boschman presented a white paper on Pressure Sintering earlier this month at the Electronics Packaging Technology Conference 2019 (EPTC) in Singapore. Marco H. Koelink and Johan Hamelink from Boschman Advanced Packaging Technology authored this excellent white paper which explores this relatively new preferred technology for automotive power electronics and the parameters which are presently known to affect quality. In addition, they present several possible measurement and inspection systems that might assist in assuring quality and reliability.
The Pressure Sintering Challenge
As a cutting-edge die-attach technology, pressure sintering presents unrivaled reliability and performance versus conventional soldering. It offers exceptionally high thermal and electrical conductivity and as a result Ag-sintering has become the most popular packaging technology used in electrical car power systems. Because the automotive industry demands extremely high requirements for yield, zero-defect production and traceability it has become critical to understand the relevant failure mechanisms and measurements.
Factors Affecting Reliability of Pressure Sintered Joints
The reliability of pressure sintered joints depends upon 6 main parameters:
1) Temperature, pressure and time are primary
2) Surface cleanliness and metallization of materials to be joined
3) Material properties such as homogeneity, shape and distribution of nano particles
4) Design of assembly to be joined
5) Presence of failures
6) Assembly process control
The authors of this paper go into detail on each of these parameters presently known to affect quality and discuss various measurement and inspection systems that might be used to assess reliability. They highlight common reliability pitfalls and highlight where more research and understanding are needed to advance pressure sintering technology.
Boschman Proprietary Technology
Of primary importance in assuring reliability of pressure sintered joints are temperature, pressure and time. But for various reasons, in the industrial setting, even these basic parameters can be difficult to measure with accuracy. Recognizing this, Boschman has developed a proprietary technology (patent pending) utilizing a sensor unit mounted on the dynamic insert for each individual product position that captures as a function of time, pressure and temperature as close as possible to the actual product. The Advanced Smart Scope records up to 300 internal plus 12 external sensor parameters for real-time precision measurements in high resolution (1 ms) inside the sinter process area. Once this process is optimized, then existing dynamic insert technology is sufficiently accurate.
Read the full white paper here!
Boschman Leads the Field
Over the years, their cutting-edge technologies and full-service solutions have made Boschman a “go to” partner in the ag-sinter market for electronic vehicles. In 2014, Boschman was first-to-market with their proprietary manual industrial sinter platform – the Sinterstar Innovate-F-XL. Check out Boschman’s sintering systems on our website – click here!
