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Optimisation & Regulation of Groundbreaking Antioxidant Nanopastes and Void-control by Organics In Die-attachments

Project description

Greener yet powerful electronics

Power electronics focus on the efficient conversion of electrical power from one form to another. Utilised in everyday electronics as well as large-scale industrial systems, this technology relies on specific devices called semiconductors. Advances in semiconductor technology have generated more energy-efficient devices compared to traditional silicon ones, but the associated materials are weak at high temperatures. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the OrganVOID project will develop a new type of copper paste that creates stronger, more reliable bonds in these devices. Researchers aim to design a powerful and easy-to-use solution that can be exploited for boosting green technologies and lowering global CO2 emissions.

Objective

To address the global climate crisis and achieve carbon neutrality, power electronics using wide bandgap (WBG) and ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductors are urgently needed to replace current Si devices for higher energy efficiency. However, existing die-attach technologies derived from Si devices tend to fail at high temperatures (>175°C), slowing the development of WBG/UWBG devices. Here, we propose a novel antioxidant Cu sintering nanopaste, using reducing organics and precise void control in die attachments (DA), to produce DA with superior properties and reliability performance compared to state-of-the-art sintering pastes. This two-year project will involve multiple disciplines, including physics, chemistry, materials science, engineering, and computer science, employing methods such as multi-scale simulations, antioxidant Cu nanopaste synthesis, advanced materials characterisation for 3D microstructure construction of DA, sintering process development, and cutting-edge reliability evaluation techniques. Crucially, first-principles calculations and molecular dynamics simulations will be combined to model the evolution and diffusion/bonding behaviour of organic additives at sintering necks at the atomic level, guiding the formulation design of Cu nanopastes. In addition, a hybrid finite element method (FEM), coupled with void characteristics, microstructure, and multi-field effects (electric, thermal, and mechanical), will be developed for the accurate lifetime prediction (accuracy: >90%) of Cu sintering joints in WBG devices. The aim is to create an antioxidant Cu nanopaste capable of directly sintering a reliable DA with a shear strength of over 25 MPa at low temperatures (<250°C), in air and without the need for pressure or a protective atmosphere. This work could significantly advance the replacement of conventional Si power electronics with WBG and UWBG devices, greatly improving energy efficiency and reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01

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Coordinator

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT
Net EU contribution
€ 232 916,16
Total cost
No data