Webinar on Harsh Environment Electronics

This is the fifth in a series of webinars organised by IMAPS (International Microelectronics, Assembly and Packaging Society) to showcase presentations given at previous IMAPS-UK events. The series will be continued by Callum Middleton and Suzanne Costello, and the presentations were first given at the IMAPS-UK “Micro-Electronics Packaging for Harsh Environments” in the Satellite Applications Catapult, Harwell in November 2019.

Topics:

What Works and What Doesn’t? – Advanced Materials Analysis for Microelectronics Reliability in Harsh Environments
Suzanne Costello – MCS Ltd

Microstructural analysis enables us to study the behaviour of the materials which we use to build electronics assemblies. Changes at a microstructural level lead to changes in macroscopic performance. Conventional methods for microstructural analysis (cut, grind and polish) are well established. These techniques have limitations however, not least, some level of deformation and damage induced in the sample by the preparation process itself. The recent availability of alternative processes represents an important opportunity to improve our understanding of material performance. The use of MCS Perfect Edge(tm) coupled with microanalysis techniques including electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) offer profound changes in our ability to understand the microstructural mechanisms which lead to deterioration and failure. Furthermore, these techniques can be used successfully on the most challenging of samples which have traditionally been consider impractical or impossible to assess.

Heat Spreading in High Power Density Electronics
Callum Middleton – Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult

As microelectronics users demand higher and higher power usage in ever decreasing footprints, thermal extraction becomes an ever-increasing problem. This is particularly a problem in wide bandgap compound semiconductors such as gallium nitride and silicon carbide, which will be key enablers of future 5G, IoT and electric vehicle technologies. In these compound semiconductors the inherently higher breakdown fields (approximately one order of magnitude higher than of silicon) mean that devices can operate at significantly higher power densities. Ensuring that these devices can be utilised to their fullest will require a range of novel heat spreading materials and architectures in both the near junction and package regions.

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