From Solvent Engineering to Intelligent Design and Optimization: A Multiscale Study of Sintered Interconnect Materials

   Dr. Pan Liu

   Associate Professor; Deputy director, Fudan University; Shanghai Engineering and Technology Research Center of Silicon Carbide Power Devices, China

Abstract:

Sintered interconnect materials are key enabling materials for wide-bandgap semiconductor power devices. Their micro-structural evolution and reliability are critical to the thermal management, electrical performance, and long-term operational stability of power devices and modules. This presentation provides an overview of our multiscale research on sintered interconnect materials, spanning solvent modulation, micro-structural characterization, reliability evaluation, and intelligent design and optimization.

The effects of solvent modulation on shear strength, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and constitutive behavior are systematically investigated to analyze the structure–property relationships between solvent formulation and material performance. Particular attention is paid to the fillet influence of pressureless sintering interconnects through sub-region mechanical analysis. By integrating experimental characterization, statistical analysis, physics-based modeling, and multi-objective optimization for material selection and optimization, correlation analysis and contribution assessment are employed to identify the dominant factors governing material performance and reliability, under representative service environments.

Furthermore, a reconstruction strategy based on the Quartet Structure Generation Set (QSGS) algorithm is developed from 2D porous morphology to construct 3D microstructural models for predicting the effective thermal and electrical conductivities of sintered materials. The results demonstrate that phase volume fraction alone is insufficient to accurately describe the thermal and electrical transport properties. Instead, pore connectivity, interparticle contact configuration, and interfacial thermal and electrical resistances play critical roles in determining the effective transport behavior. To further improve predictive accuracy, representative volume elements (RVEs) are generated by combining random field theory with a stochastic growth model. The effective thermal and electrical conductivities are subsequently predicted using finite element analysis coupled with effective medium theory. Incorporating interfacial effects improves the agreement between simulation and experimental results, leading to enhanced predictive capability and engineering applicability. This work provides a data- and physics-driven framework for the intelligent design and optimization of sintered interconnect materials, facilitating the transition from empirical trial-and-error approaches to model-assisted materials development.

Speaker's Biography: 

Dr. Pan Liu is currently an Associate Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor at the College of Intelligent Robotics and Advanced Manufacturing of Fudan University. She was selected for the Shanghai Thousand Talents Program and the Fudan University “Zhuoxue” Outstanding Talent Program. She received her B.Eng. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Beihang University, China in 2009, and her M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Sustainable Energy Technology and Electrical Engineering, respectively, from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands.

Before joining Fudan University in 2019, she worked at UL (the Netherlands) and Heraeus Group (Germany). She currently serves as Deputy Director of the Shanghai Engineering Research Center of SiC Power Devices, Deputy Director of the Institute of Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Materials and Devices at the Fudan Ningbo Research Institute, and a Technical Committee Member of the International Conference on Electronic Packaging Technology (ICEPT).

Dr. Liu has published more than 70 papers in leading international journals and conferences and holds more than 10 granted invention and utility model patents. Her research interests include SiC superjunction device design, reliability of SiC MOSFETs, solvent modulation of sintered interconnect materials, advanced thermal management materials and packaging design, and multi-physics, multiscale co-optimization of semiconductor devices and electronic packaging. Her research aims to enhance the performance and lifetime of power semiconductor devices and packaging interconnects operating under harsh service environments.