Increased Operating Temperature and Power Cycling Capability
Semikron Danfoss is a pioneer in the use of silver sintering for mass-produced power semiconductor modules. First introduced in 2007, the Single Sided Sintering Technology process involves the use of elevated temperature and high pressure to sinter a silver powder into a very low porosity layer. The resulting silver layer has a melting temperature roughly four times higher than traditional tin-silver solder.
This results in a large difference in melting temperature of the silver layer versus the operating temperature of the chip. The thermomechanical stress during operation, and hence, deformation to this layer is greatly reduced.
Furthermore, the layer thickness of the sintered silver is 70% thinner than traditional solder. This means the thermal resistance from chip to sink is reduced considerably.