Double-sided heat dissipation numerical modeling of an embedded half-bridge power module with multiple chips

Abstract

Thermal management has always played a significant role in power module design. Double-sided heat dissipation is more efficient at transferring heat than the traditional package. Although there are several thermal modeling approaches to power modules, the application of the numerical models, which are computationally fast and accurate, has rarely been investigated for double-sided heat dissipation scenarios. This paper proposes a numerical heat conduction model of a double-sided heat dissipation power module with multiple chips embedded. The model was developed by solving Laplace’s equation for the temperature distribution of steady state heat transfer using the separated variable method. The individual chip placement, two-chip distance and orientation, and four-chip placement were discussed through this modeling approach. The optimal layout was found. Then, a half-bridge topology module that consisted of two chips was investigated. To verify the accuracy of the numerical model, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the model was performed using the same boundary conditions. The experiments were applied on the power cycling tester to extract the junction temperature and case temperature. The numerical methods show good temperature prediction accuracy compared to both FEA and experiments.