Enhancements on power electronic systems with reduced chip area and miniaturized passive components are subject of several research activities in academics and industry. To realize such future electronic devices, it is necessary to incorporate wide bandgap semiconductor technology such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride operating at higher temperatures. Therefore, the development of novel materials with high thermal conductivities and stability, withstanding harsh environments up to 300°C is of major interest. Especially, polymeric encapsulation materials have to be improved because of common degradation effects above 175°C. Ceramic (nonpolymeric) materials with thermal conductivities above 5 W/(m·K) already illustrated promising results for the encapsulation of power electronics. The present work illustrates recent developments and improvements on novel ceramic encapsulation materials, which finally avoid critical interactions with the chip surface. Furthermore, advances in reliability will be discussed in terms of passed high-temperature reverse bias and humidity tests correlated with relevant material properties.

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Enhancements on power electronic systems with reduced chip area and miniaturized passive components are subject of several research activities in academics and industry. To realize such future electronic devices, it is necessary to incorporate wide bandgap semiconductor technology such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride operating at higher temperatures. Therefore, the development of novel materials with high thermal conductivities and stability, withstanding harsh environments up to 300°C is of major interest. Especially, polymeric encapsulation materials have to be improved because of common degradation effects above 175°C. Ceramic (nonpolymeric) materials with thermal conductivities above 5 W/(m·K) already illustrated promising results for the encapsulation of power electronics. The present work illustrates recent developments and improvements on novel ceramic encapsulation materials, which finally avoid critical interactions with the chip surface. Furthermore, advances in reliability will be discussed in terms of passed high-temperature reverse bias and humidity tests correlated with relevant material properties.