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EP-4068915-B1 - POWER MODULE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A POWER MODULE

EP4068915B1EP 4068915 B1EP4068915 B1EP 4068915B1EP-4068915-B1

Inventors

  • THUT, Markus
  • TRUESSEL, DOMINIK
  • EHRBAR, Roman
  • BEYER, HARALD

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20210330

Claims (15)

  1. A power module (1) comprising several contact portions (6, 6', 7, 7', 37) and a terminal member (2) with a terminal (3, 3') for electrically connecting one or more of the contact portions (6, 6', 7, 7', 37) to the outside, wherein the terminal member (2) comprises several sections (17, 18, 19) and at least one intermediate foot (4, 4', 28) contacting one of the contact portions (6, 6', 7, 7', 37), wherein the intermediate foot (4, 4', 28) is located between two of the sections (17, 18, 19), wherein the terminal member (2) comprises at least one end foot (5, 5') connected to only one of the sections (17, 18, 19) of the terminal member (2), wherein a current path from the terminal (3, 3') to the end foot (5, 5') leads through the intermediate foot (4, 4'), wherein the terminal member comprises a bar (20) from which several end feet (5, 5') extend in one direction and several intermediate feet (4, 4') extend in an opposite direction, wherein the bar (20) connects the end feet (5, 5') in parallel and connects the intermediate feet (4, 4') in parallel.
  2. The power module of claim 1, wherein the terminal member (2) comprises a connection portion (26) connecting the feet (4, 4') to the terminals (3, 3'), the connection portion (26) having a larger width than each of the feet (4, 4').
  3. The power module (1) of any of the preceding claims, wherein the contact portions (6, 6', 7, 7', 37) comprise at least one of metallizations on one or more substrates (6, 6', 7, 7', 37) and contact portions on surfaces of electric components (15, 15', 16, 16').
  4. The power module (1) of any of the preceding claims, comprising one or more substrates (11, 11', 12, 12', 39), wherein at least two of the contact portions (6, 6', 7, 7', 37) are located on the same one of the substrates (11, 11', 12, 12', 39), wherein the terminal member (2) contacts at least the two of the contact portions (6, 6', 7, 7', 37).
  5. The power module (1) of any of the preceding claims, comprising several substrates (11, 11', 12, 12', 39), wherein at least two of the contact portions (6, 6', 7, 7', 37) are located on different ones of the substrates (11, 11', 12, 12', 39), wherein the terminal member (2) contacts at least the two of the contact portions (6, 6', 7, 7', 37).
  6. The power module (1) of any of claim 4 and 5, wherein the terminal member (2) both connects contact portions (6, 6', 7, 7', 37) within a substrate (11, 11', 12, 12', 39) and contact portions 6, 6', 7, 7', 37) of different substrates 11, 11', 12, 12', 39).
  7. The power module (1) of any of the preceding claims, comprising a first electric component (15, 15') in the form of a first switch element and a second electric component (16, 16') in the form of a second switch element, wherein the first switch element and second switch element are electrically connected to form a half bridge, wherein the terminal member (2) electrically connects the first switch element and the second switch element.
  8. The power module (1) of claim 7, comprising several first switch elements and several second switch elements, wherein the first switch elements are high side switch elements and the second switch elements are low side switch elements, wherein each of the intermediate feet (4, 4') is connected to an emitter or source of the high side switch elements and wherein each of the end feet (5, 5') is connected to collectors or drains of the low side switch elements.
  9. The power module (1) of any of the preceding claims, wherein the terminal member (2) is a single-piece metal plate.
  10. The power module (1) of any of the preceding claims, wherein the terminal member (2) comprises at least two intermediate feet (4, 4', 28) electrically connected in series.
  11. The power module (1) of any of the preceding claims, wherein the terminal (3, 3') is at least one of a DC+, DC-, AC terminal and an auxiliary terminal for at least one of controlling or monitoring purposes.
  12. The power module (1) of any of the preceding claims, comprising at least one further terminal member (21, 22) at least partly overlapping in a height direction with the terminal member (2).
  13. The power module (1) of claim 12, wherein the further terminal member (21, 22) comprises a further bar (25) and further end feet (5, 5') extending from the further bar (25), wherein the further bar (25) overlaps with the bar (20) in a height direction and wherein the end feet (4, 4') and further end feet (5, 5') extend in different directions seen from the overlapping bar (20) and further bar (25).
  14. A method for manufacturing a power module (1), comprising the steps of A) providing one or more substrates (11, 11', 12, 12', 39) comprising contact portions (6, 6', 7, 7', 37) and providing a terminal member (2) comprising a terminal (3, 3') for electrically connecting the contact portions (6, 6', 7, 7', 37) to the outside, wherein the terminal member (2) comprises at least one intermediate foot (4, 4', 28) contacting one of the contact portions (6, 6', 7, 7', 37), wherein the at least one intermediate foot (4, 4', 28) is located between two sections (17, 18, 19) of the terminal member (2), wherein the terminal member (2) comprises at least one end foot (5, 5') connected to only one of the sections (17, 18, 19) of the terminal member (2), wherein a current path from the terminal (3, 3') to the end foot (5, 5') leads through the intermediate foot (4, 4'), wherein the terminal member comprises a bar (20) from which several end feet (5, 5') extend in one direction and several intermediate feet (4, 4') extend in an opposite direction, wherein the bar (20) connects the end feet (5, 5') in parallel and connects the intermediate feet (4, 4') in parallel B) mechanically and electrically connecting each of the intermediate feet (4, 4', 28) and end feet (5, 5') to one of the contact portions (6, 6', 7, 7', 37).
  15. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one intermediate foot (4, 4', 28) is connected to the contact portions (6, 6', 7, 7', 37) by welding.

Description

The present disclosure relates to a power module and method for manufacturing a power module. The power module can be used in power electronic devices, such as motor drives or power converters in electric vehicles (EV), for example. The power module can be a power semiconductor module. The power module may be a high voltage power module. Documents CN 105655306 A and CN 110060971 A disclose a power module comprising metal clips for interconnecting substrate metallizations and chips. Alternatively, such connections may be provided by wire bonds. In both cases, separate current carrying terminal members for connecting the power module to the outside are provided. Document EP 3 065 164 A1 discloses a semiconductor arrangment, wherein semiconductor devices are located in two rows at opposite sides of an interposer. Conductive elements are provided to induce a respective current into the power semiconductor arrangment. Embodiments of the disclosure relate to a power module having an improved connection to the outside and a need for an improved method for manufacturing a power module. According to a first aspect of the disclosure, a power module comprises several contact portions and a terminal member with a terminal for electrically connecting one or more of the contact portions to the outside. An external contact may be electrically and mechanically connected to the terminal by a screw and bold connection, for example. Other suitable connection methods for mounting an external contact are welding, soldering, gluing and press-fit, for example. A contact portion may be in the form of a metallization on a substrate or an electrically conducting portion on a surface of an electric component, for example. An electric component may be a chip, for example. The electric component may be located on a metallization on a substrate. The terminal member may interconnect metallizations of one or more substrates. Alternatively or additionally the terminal member may connect electric components to metallizations or may connect electric components to electric components. The terminal member may be formed as a single piece. The terminal member may be formed from a metal plate. It is also possible that the terminal member comprises or consists of two or more pieced joined together. Each of the two or more pieces may be formed from a metal plate. The pieces may be from materials with different hardness or may have a different thickness. As an example, copper of different hardness may be used. The terminal may be in the form of a main terminal, i.e., a current carrying terminal, for example. It is also possible that the terminal is an auxiliary terminal for controlling or monitoring purposes. As an example, auxiliary terminals may include signal terminals for controlling switching devices. The terminal member comprises at least one foot electrically contacting one of the contact portions. The terminal member may comprise at least two feet. At least two of the feet of the terminal member are intermediate feet. Furthermore, at least two of the feet of the terminal member are end feet. While an end foot is free-standing, i.e., connected to only one section of the terminal member, an intermediate foot is located between two sections of the terminal member. Exemplarily, an end foot is connected to a section of the terminal member only at one end, while an intermediate foot is connected to sections of the terminal member at two ends. As an example, an intermediate foot may be located between the terminal and the end foot. In this case, a current path from the terminal to the end foot leads through the intermediate foot. The intermediate foot is also denoted as a "stitch" and the terminal comprising an intermediate foot is also denoted as a "stitch terminal", in the following. According to an embodiment, the terminal member may comprise several intermediate feet arranged in series. Accordingly, a current path from the terminal to an end feet runs through all of the serially arranged intermediate feet. The serially arranged intermediate feet may contact several contact portions on at least one of different substrates or the same substrate. It is also possible that the terminal member comprises intermediate feet arranged in series and intermediate feet arranged in parallel. It is also possible that the terminal member comprises two or more parallel parts wherein one or more of the parts only comprises end feet but no intermediate feet and one or more of the parts comprises end feet and intermediate feet. In an embodiment, the power module comprises several substrates comprising at least some of the contact portions. The substrates may be located on a base plate. The terminal member may contact at least two contact portions of different substrates. Accordingly, the stitch terminal does not only provide a connection to the outside but also an integrated substrate-to-substrate connection. Alternatively or additionally, the terminal member may c