US-12622285-B2 - Semiconductor module and method for manufacturing semiconductor module

US12622285B2US 12622285 B2US12622285 B2US 12622285B2US-12622285-B2

Abstract

A semiconductor module includes a semiconductor chip, a resin molded part, and a connection terminal electrically connected to the semiconductor chip. The connection terminal includes an internal terminal sealed in the resin molded part, an external terminal, and a tie bar remaining portion. The internal terminal is extended in a first direction and exposed from an opening portion of the resin molded part. The external terminal is connected to the internal terminal through the opening portion, and projected outside the resin molded part. The tie bar remaining portion extends from the internal terminal in a second direction intersecting the first direction and projects outside the resin molded part to provide a tie bar projecting portion. The connection terminal has a groove portion covered with the resin molded part, between an exposed portion of the internal terminal and the tie bar projecting portion.

Inventors

Hiroshi Ishino
Katsuya Kumagai
Masaru NARIKAWA

Assignees

DENSO CORPORATION
TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
MIRISE Technologies Corporation

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20230310
Priority Date: 20220519

Claims (9)

1 . A semiconductor module comprising: a semiconductor chip; a resin molded part that seals the semiconductor chip; and a connection terminal that is electrically connected to the semiconductor chip, wherein the connection terminal includes an internal terminal having a plate shape, an external terminal, and a tie bar remaining portion, the internal terminal is extended in a first direction along a planar direction and sealed in the resin molded part, and the internal terminal is exposed from an opening portion provided in the resin molded part, the external terminal is connected to the internal terminal at the opening portion, and projected outside the resin molded part, the tie bar remaining portion extends from the internal terminal in a second direction that intersects the first direction and along the planar direction of the internal terminal, and projects outside the resin molded part to provide a tie bar projecting portion, the connection terminal has a groove portion at a position between a portion of the internal terminal exposed from the opening portion and the tie bar projecting portion, the resin molded part is received in the groove portion, and the groove portion has an opening edge portion adjacent to the tie bar projecting portion, and is covered with the resin molded part together with the opening edge portion.
2 . The semiconductor module according to claim 1 , wherein the groove portion is disposed in the tie bar remaining portion.
3 . The semiconductor module according to claim 1 , wherein the connection terminal has a roughened portion at a position that is different from the groove portion and is sealed with the resin molded part, and the groove portion has a surface roughness larger than that of the roughened portion.
4 . The semiconductor module according to claim 1 , wherein the groove portion includes a plurality of recesses, and the plurality of recesses extends in a direction that intersects the second direction.
5 . The semiconductor module according to claim 1 , wherein the groove portion has a width of 50 micrometers or more in the second direction.
6 . The semiconductor module according to claim 1 , wherein the groove portion has a depth of 1/10 or more of a thickness of a portion of the connection terminal different from a portion where the groove portion is provided, and a thickness of the portion of the connection terminal where the groove portion is provided is ½ or more of the thickness of the portion of the connection terminal different from the portion where the groove portion is provided.
7 . The semiconductor module according to claim 1 , wherein the connection terminal is a first connection terminal, the semiconductor module further comprising: a second connection terminal that has a plate shape, and is electrically connected to the semiconductor chip, wherein the first connection terminal and the second connection terminal are arranged to overlap with each other across a predetermined distance in a thickness direction perpendicular to the planar direction, the second connection terminal has a portion projecting from a predetermined surface of the resin molded part, and the resin molded part has the opening portion defining an opening from which the internal terminal of the first connection terminal is exposed on a surface different from the predetermined surface.
8 . A method for manufacturing a semiconductor module, the semiconductor module including: a semiconductor chip; a resin molded part that seals the semiconductor chip; and a connection terminal that is electrically connected to the semiconductor chip, wherein the connection terminal includes an internal terminal having a plate shape, an external terminal, and a tie bar remaining portion, the internal terminal is extended in a first direction along a planar direction and sealed in the resin molded part, and the internal terminal is exposed from an opening portion provided in the resin molded part, the external terminal is connected to the internal terminal at the opening portion, and projected outside the resin molded part, the tie bar remaining portion extends from the internal terminal in a second direction that intersects the first direction and along the planar direction of the internal terminal, and projects outside the resin molded part to provide a tie bar projecting portion, the connection terminal has a groove portion at a position between a portion of the internal terminal exposed from the opening portion and the tie bar projecting portion, the resin molded part is received in the groove portion, and the groove portion has an opening edge portion adjacent to the tie bar projecting portion, and is covered with the resin molded part together with the opening edge portion, the method comprising: preparing a terminal constituent member having the internal terminal and a tie bar integral with the internal terminal; forming the groove portion in a portion of at least one of the internal terminal and the tie bar, which is to be sealed with the resin molded part; forming a component member from the terminal constituent member by electrically connecting the internal terminal to the semiconductor chip; placing the component member in a cavity of a mold, the cavity being provided by engaging a first mold part and a second mold part of the mold with each other; forming the resin molded part by injecting a molten resin into the cavity of the mold and solidifying the molten resin; cutting the tie bar so that the tie bar remaining portion extending from the internal terminal and including the tie bar projecting portion projecting from the molded resin is formed; and ultrasonically bonding the external terminal to the internal terminal.
9 . The method according to claim 8 , further comprising: forming a roughened portion in a portion of at least one of the internal terminal and the tie bar, which is to be sealed with the resin molded part and is different from the groove portion, the roughened portion having a surface roughness smaller than that of the groove portion, and in the forming of the groove portion and in the forming of the roughened portion, the groove portion and the roughened portion are formed by applying laser beams using a same laser device.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION The present application claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-082426 filed on May 19, 2022. The entire disclosures of the above application are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor module and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor module. BACKGROUND There has been proposed a semiconductor module including a semiconductor element, a connection terminal connected to the semiconductor element, and a resin molded part integrally sealing the semiconductor element and the connection terminal. Such a semiconductor module may be manufactured as follows. That is, a terminal constituent member in which the connection terminal is connected to another member through a tie bar is prepared, and the connection terminal of the terminal constituent member is electrically connected to a semiconductor element, thereby to produce a component member. Next, the component member is placed in a mold such that the tie bar is held by the mold. Subsequently, a molten resin is injected into the mold and solidified, thereby to form the resin molded part. Thereafter, the tie bar is cut. SUMMARY The present disclosure describes a semiconductor module, which is capable of suppressing damage to a resin molded part. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a semiconductor module may include a semiconductor chip, a resin molded part, and a connection terminal electrically connected to the semiconductor chip. The connection terminal may include an internal terminal sealed in the resin molded part, an external terminal, and a tie bar remaining portion. The internal terminal may be extended in a first direction and exposed from an opening portion of the resin molded part. The external terminal may be connected to the internal terminal through the opening portion, and projected outside the resin molded part. The tie bar remaining portion may extend from the internal terminal in a second direction intersecting the first direction and project outside the resin molded part to provide a tie bar projecting portion. The connection terminal may have a groove portion covered with the resin molded part, between an exposed portion of the internal terminal and the tie bar projecting portion. The present disclosure also describes a method for manufacturing such a semiconductor module. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated by like reference numbers and in which: FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a three-phase inverter circuit including a semiconductor module according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal structure of the semiconductor module; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a plan view of the semiconductor module viewed from a first surface side of a resin molded part; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a plan view of the semiconductor module viewed from a second surface side of the resin molded part, in a state before an external terminal is bonded; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a plan view of the semiconductor module viewed from the second surface side of the resin molded part, in a state after the external terminal is bonded; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional view taken along a line VI-VI in FIG. 4; FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional view taken along a line VII-VII in FIG. 5; FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a side view of the semiconductor module; FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional view taken along a line IX-IX in FIG. 3; FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing a groove portion; FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically showing a roughened portion; FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining stress generated when the external terminal is ultrasonically bonded to the internal terminal; FIG. 13A is a diagram showing a cross-sectional view of an internal terminal having a groove portion at a position coinciding with an outer boundary; FIG. 13B is a diagram showing a cross-sectional view of an internal terminal having a groove portion at a position coinciding with an inner boundary; FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the relationship between the position of the groove portion and maximum stress; FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining stress generated when the external terminal is ultrasonically bonded to the internal terminal in a configuration in which the groove portion is formed at the position coinciding with the outer boundary; FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the relationship between the depth of the groove portion and the maximum stress; FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the relationship between the width of the groove portion and the maximum stress; FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the relationship between the width of the groove portion and the maximum stress; FIG. 19 i