Process, Packaging Combine To Advance High-Voltage Power MOSFETs

Focus:

There’s a significant amount of design activity today in power management involving voltages between 400 V and 1700 V, with the bulk of interest around 600 V at 2 kW. Applications include switched-mode power supplies, motor control, industrial machines, hybrid electric vehicles, and many others. Market pressures to make these end products smaller and more efficient place tremendous demands on the power components, especially the power MOSFETS. In response MOSFET vendors are improving the performance of their devices through advances in their process technology and packaging. This article discusses two examples of recent advances by STMicroelectronics—-the MDmeshV process and the HV PowerFLAT 8×8 package. Data is presented to illustrate the improved performance of a 650-V superjunction n-channel MOSFET built in this new process (the STW88N65M5). And the benefits of the 1-mm thick PowerFLAT 8×8 versus the established D2PAK and DPAK are described. The inability to do visual inspection on the new package is also discussed.

What you’ll learn:

• How to understand the benefits of the MDmeshV process technology for superjunction MOSFETs
• How to understand the benefits of the PowerFlat 8x8 power MOSFET package versus the D2PAK and DPAK

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Author & Publication:

Vipin Bothra, STMicroelectronics, Schaumburg, Ill., How2Power Today, Oct 25 2012

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