A Parametric Simulative Study for Lifetime Prediction of Sintered Silver Die Attach Under Different Accelerated Testing Conditions

Sintered silver (SAG) is a widely-used die attach (DA) technology in automotive industry, especially for power modules in electric vehicles (EV) defined by higher power densities. High operation temperatures (> 175°C) are particularly resulting from the application of dies based on wide bandgap semiconductors materials like SiC and GaN. The thermo-mechanical stress resulting from large temperature swings in EV applications fatigues the porous layer of SAG. In order to estimate the reliability of die attach layers physics-of-failure (PoF) based lifetime models are needed. In this study, comparative parametric simulations are used to estimate the influence of geometric factors on the lifetime of the die attach layer. In addition, the state of the art of accelerated fatigue experiments is presented.