US-12628481-B2 - Diode arrangement

US12628481B2US 12628481 B2US12628481 B2US 12628481B2US-12628481-B2

Abstract

A diode arrangement, including a semiconductor diode with a p/n junction. A first electrical contact is formed on an upper side and a second electrical contact is formed on an underside. The semiconductor being designed in an uncased manner as a flat die and having a planar upper side and a planar underside, and the metal-plated upper side forming the first contact of the semiconductor diode, and the metal-plated underside forming the second contact. A first flat metallic conductor has a first contact surface and a second contact surface spaced a distance apart from the first contact surface by a connecting piece. A second flat metallic connector has a first contact surface and a second contact surface spaced a distance from the first contact surface by a connecting piece. The metal-plated upper side is connected in a materially bonded manner to the first contact surface of the first metallic connector.

Inventors

Ivica ZRINSCAK

Assignees

AZUR SPACE SOLAR POWER GMBH

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20231124
Priority Date: 20221123

Claims (15)

1 . A diode arrangement as an uncased finished product, the arrangement comprising: a semiconductor diode having exactly one p/n junction, the semiconductor diode having a p-doped upper side and an n-doped underside or an n-doped upper side and a p-doped underside; a first electrical contact being formed on the upper side; a second electrical contact being formed on the underside; wherein the uncased semiconductor diode is designed as a discrete component and as a flat die; wherein the semiconductor diode has a planar upper side and a planar underside; wherein the surface area of the upper side and the surface area of the underside are completely or at least up to 90% metal-plated, and the metal-plated upper side forms the first contact of the semiconductor diode, and the metal-plated underside forms the second contact thereof; wherein a first flat metallic connector is formed with a first contact surface and a second contact surface, which is spaced a distance apart from the first contact surface by a connecting piece; wherein a second flat metallic connector is formed with a first contact surface and a second contact surface which is spaced a distance apart from the first contact surface by a connecting piece; wherein the particular connecting piece in the two connectors does not project, or projects no more than 1.5 mm, from a plane determined by the first contact surface or by the second contact surface; wherein the metal-plated upper side is connected in a materially bonded manner to one of the two contact surfaces of the first metallic connector; and wherein the metal-plated underside is connected in a materially bonded manner to one of the two contact surfaces of the second metallic connector.
2 . The diode arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the upper side includes exactly one first contact.
3 . The diode arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the underside includes exactly one single second contact irrespective of the size of the die.
4 . The diode arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein multiple first contacts arranged side by side are formed on the upper side, and wherein two directly adjacent first contacts are electrically isolated from each other in each case with the aid of a mesa trench.
5 . The diode arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein exactly two first contacts are electrically connected to a single connector.
6 . The diode arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein a cover glass is arranged on the upper side or on the underside, wherein a layer of adhesive is arranged between the cover glass and the contact surface.
7 . The diode arrangement according to claim 6 , wherein the adhesive and the cover glass are transparent in a visible spectral range and in an ultraviolet spectral range.
8 . The diode arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the connecting piece between the first contact surface and the second contact surface comprises meander-shaped metal strips or is made up of meander-shaped metal strips.
9 . The diode arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the first contact surface and/or the second contact surface is/are at least partially provided with a fork-shaped design and has/have exactly one lug piece or exactly two lug pieces or at least or exactly three lug pieces, and the multiple lug pieces are designed to be spaced a distance apart and in parallel to each other.
10 . The diode arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the first contact surface of the first connector simultaneously contacts two semiconductor diodes situated side by side.
11 . The diode arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the arrangement of connectors and the semiconductor diode has a thickness between 0.03 mm and 1.5 mm or between 0.1 mm and 0.5 mm.
12 . The diode arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor diode is covered on the upper side or on the underside, and wherein the portion of the contact surface arranged on the upper side or the underside is covered.
13 . The diode arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the connectors and the semiconductor diode are arranged in a plane or approximately in a plane.
14 . The diode arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein an offset is formed in the connectors between one of the two contact surfaces and the connecting piece, and the offset corresponds in a first approximation to the thickness of the semiconductor diode.
15 . The diode arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor diode is designed as a silicon diode.

Description

This nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to German Patent Application No. 10 2022 004 377.7, which was filed in Germany on Nov. 23, 2022, and which is herein incorporated by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Description of the Background Art Diode arrangements have been used in large numbers for many decades in both integrated and discrete specific embodiments for the purpose of protecting circuits and/or protecting motors and controllers and/or for protecting batteries. In particular, diodes of this type are used for so-called polarity reversal protection. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the invention is to provide a device which refines the prior art. According to an example of the device, a diode arrangement is provided as an uncased finished product, which includes a semiconductor diode having exactly one p/n junction. The semiconductor diode has a p-doped upper side and an n-doped underside or an n-doped upper side and a p-doped underside. A first electrical contact is formed on the upper side and a second electrical contact is formed on the underside. The uncased semiconductor diode is designed as a discrete component and as a planar die. The semiconductor diode furthermore has a planar upper side and a planar underside, the surface area of the upper side and the surface area of the underside being completely or at least more than 80% or more than 90% metal-plated. The surface area on the underside and/or the upper side may not be 100% metal-plated. A circumferential region on the boundary or on the edge is not metal-plated to avoid short-circuits between the upper surface and side surface. During the manufacture of the semiconductor wafer, in particular, a separation of the multiplicity of diodes is usually carried out with the aid of a sawing process. A smearing of metal along the side surface is prevented with the aid of the circumferential metal-free region on the edge. The predominantly metal-plated upper side forms the first contact and the metal-plated underside forms the second contact of the semiconductor diode. The first contact is designed as a cathode and the second contact as an anode, or the first contact is designed as an anode and the second contact as a cathode. In addition, a first flat metallic connector is provided, which has a first contact surface and a second contact surface situated at a distance from the first contact surface by a connecting piece. A second flat metallic connector is furthermore provided, which has a first contact surface and a second contact surface situated at a distance from the first contact surface by a connecting piece. The connecting piece does not protrude, or by no more than 1.5 mm or 2.5 mm, from a plane determined by the first contact surface and/or by the second contact surface. It should be noted that the connector is provided as a whole with a planar design in the example, in which the connecting piece does not protrude from a plane determined by the first contact surface and by the second contact surface. The metal-plated upper side is also connected to one of the two contact surfaces in a materially bonded manner, i.e., to the first contact surface or to the second contact surface of the first metallic connector. The surface portion covered by the particular contact surface of the connector is between 5% and 90% or between 10% and 30% of the entire surface area of the particular contact of the semiconductor diode. In other words, at least 5% and no more than 90% or at least 10% and no more than 30% of the metal layer on the upper side or on the underside of the semiconductor diode has a materially bonded connection to one of the two connectors. It is understood that a soldering process or a welding process can be carried out to form the materially bonded connection between the particular contact surface of the semiconductor diode and the particular contact surface of the connectors. The metal-plated underside can be connected to one of the two contact surfaces in a materially bonded manner, i.e., to the first contact surface or to the second contact surface of the second metallic connector. The contact surfaces can be electrically connected to the upper side or to the lower side in the known manner. In particular, the materially bonded connection is effectuated with the aid of a soldered joint or a welded joint. The semiconductor diode can include a p-doped semiconductor layer and an n-doped semiconductor layer. The two semiconductor layers are formed over the entire surface and border each other. It should be noted that the semiconductor diodes each have exactly one p/n junction. The doping of the semiconductor layers can be on the upper side and on the underside for the purpose of reducing in each case the connection resistance, i.e., the contact resistance, above 1·1018/cm3. The particular uncased semiconductor diodes may not have any casting compound. Instead the semiconductor diode