Low Cost High Thermal Conductivity Packaging for SiC Based Motor Drive Designs

This Small business Innovation Research Phase I project will investigate design and development of SiC based high temperature motor drives. Converter circuit design will be conducted by Rockwell Scientific, to provide high torque output. Innovative high temperature packaging will be developed incorporating high conductivity baseplates composed of ultra high conductivity diamond particles dispersed in a high conductivity metal matrixes known as DiMet materials, integrated with an Aluminum nitride electrical isolation layer to produce the highest conductivity isotropic composite baseplates available today which have high temperature operation capability for SiC packaging. By tailoring the volume loading of diamond in the DiMet, the thermal expansion of the baseplate will be matched with SiC to minimize high temperature thermal mismatch strains. The SiC devices will be directly joined to the baseplate using Transient liquid Phase (TLP) bonding and encapsulated with AlN for high temperature operation. Some limited device testing will be conducted. The tremendous commercial potential of this product is for broad use as a thermal management material in power electronics for SiC, GaAs and Si based devices.