Abstract

Power electronics are devices designed to handle the control and conversion of electrical power. Such devices include four types of power converters, that is, DC-DC, DC-AC, AC-DC, and AC-AC converters. Power electronics are particularly crucial in the development of renewable energy (RE) technologies, smart grid technologies, and electric/hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) because these applications (Bose 2012; Hegazy et al. 2013) operate under high power (from tens to hundreds of kW) and/or high temperature (>200°C) (Drobnik and Jain 2013). Power semiconductor modules, the basic elements of a power electronic converter, are specifically designed to handle high power; however, high-temperature operation is still a challenge. As such, the constituent materials of power semiconductor modules (shown in Figure 10.1) must be able to sustain such harsh conditions especially for the packaging materials that bond the power semiconductors to the substrate and bond power electronic modules to the thermal management modules (Sheng and Colino 2004). At high power and high temperatures, these packaging materials face accelerated fatigue conditions. The development of widebandgap semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) has increased the potential and feasibility of high-temperature and high-power electronics (Khazaka et al. 2015). Power electronic packaging components including substrates, bonding materials (e.g., soldering alloys), and functional components have to satisfy the requirements of the enhanced bonding strength, high-temperature operation, and resistance to harsh environments.