Electrically conductive element, power semiconductor device having an electrically conductive element and method of manufacturing a power semiconductor device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9812376-B2
Application number	US-201514753797-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2015
Priority date	Jul 8, 2014
Publication date	Nov 7, 2017
Grant date	Nov 7, 2017

Abstract

An electrically conductive element includes an electrically conductive material and a plurality of inclusions of a phase change material. The phase change material has a phase transition temperature Tc between 150° C. and 400° C. The inclusions are separated from each other and are embedded in the electrically conductive material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A power semiconductor device, comprising:
a semiconductor body;
an active portion of the power semiconductor device formed in the semiconductor body; and
an electrically conductive element electrically coupled to the active portion in the semiconductor body, the electrically conductive element comprising:
an electrically conductive material; and
a plurality of inclusions of a phase change material, the phase change material having a phase transition temperature Tc between 150° C. and 400° C.,
wherein the inclusions are separated from each other and embedded in the electrically conductive material.

2. The power semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the phase change material is solid at a temperature below Tc and is liquid at a temperature above Tc.

3. The power semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the phase change material is at least one selected from the group consisting of tin, bismuth, zinc and indium.

4. The power semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the electrically conductive material is a metal.

5. The power semiconductor device of claim 4 , wherein the metal is aluminum or copper.

6. The power semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the inclusions have a diameter of 0.1 to 10 μm.

7. The power semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein a mass ratio of the phase change material to the electrically conductive element is more than 30 mass-% and less than 95 mass-%.

8. The power semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein a volume ratio of the phase change material to the electrically conductive element is more than 35 volume-% and less than 95 volume-%.

9. The power semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the electrically conductive element has a thickness between 1 μm and 100 μm.

10. The power semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the electrically conductive element is patterned so as to form lines.

11. The power semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the electrically conductive element is disposed at least at one side of the semiconductor body and patterned so as to form a wiring structure.

12. The power semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein the electrically conductive element is configured to conduct a current from the active portion in the semiconductor body to a first or to a second load terminal.

13. The power semiconductor device of claim 1 , wherein:
the semiconductor device is a vertical semiconductor device comprising a first load terminal contact at a first side of the semiconductor body and a second load terminal contact at a second side of the semiconductor body opposite the first side;
the semiconductor device is configured to conduct a load current between the first and the second load terminal contacts along a vertical direction perpendicular to the main surface;
the electrically conductive element is configured to conduct a current from the active portion in the semiconductor body to the first or to the second load terminal.

14. The power semiconductor device of claim 1 , further comprising a transistor cell array, the electrically conductive element being electrically coupled to at least one of the group consisting of a source terminal of the transistor cell array, a drain terminal of the transistor cell array, and a gate terminal of the transistor cell array.

Assignees

• Infineon Technologies Ag

Inventors

• Woehlert Stefan
• Nelhiebel Michael
• Roehl Siegfried

Classifications

• H10W70/02 Primary

  of conductive package substrates serving as an interconnection, e.g. of metal plates (manufacture or treatment of leadframes H10W70/04) · CPC title

• H10W40/735

  by melting or evaporation of solids · CPC title

• H10W20/4421

  the principal metal being copper · CPC title

• H10W20/4405

  the principal metal being aluminium · CPC title

• H10W20/4403

  based on metals, e.g. alloys, metal silicides (H10W20/4484 takes precedence) · CPC title