Research on heat dissipation performance of

double-sided cooling IGBT module

1st Zuoyi Huang 2ndTong An* 3rd Fei Qin
Institute of Electronics Packaging Institute of Electronics Packaging Institute of Electronics Packaging
Technology and Reliability Technology and Reliability Technology and Reliability
2023 24th International Conference on Electronic Packaging Technology (ICEPT) | 979-8-3503-3881-2/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ICEPT59018.2023.10492352

Beijing Key Laboratory of Advanced Beijing Key Laboratory of Advanced Beijing Key Laboratory of Advanced
Manufacturing Technology Manufacturing Technology Manufacturing Technology
Faculty of Materials and Faculty of Materials and Faculty of Materials and
Manufacturing Manufacturing Manufacturing
Beijing University of Technology Beijing University of Technology Beijing University of Technology
Beijing, China Beijing, China Beijing, China
578605037@qq.com antong@bjut.edu.cn qfei@bjut.edu.cn

4th Yanpeng Gong 5th Yanwei Dai 6th Zhen Wang

Institute of Electronics Packaging Institute of Electronics Packaging Institute of Electronics Packaging
Technology and Reliability Technology and Reliability Technology and Reliability
Beijing Key Laboratory of Advanced Beijing Key Laboratory of Advanced Beijing Key Laboratory of Advanced
Manufacturing Technology Manufacturing Technology Manufacturing Technology
Faculty of Materials and Faculty of Materials and Faculty of Materials and
Manufacturing Manufacturing Manufacturing
Beijing University of Technology Beijing University of Technology Beijing University of Technology
Beijing, China Beijing, China Beijing, China
yanpeng.gong@bjut.edu.cn ywdai@bjut.edu.cn zhen.wang@bjut.edu.cn

Abstract—Double-sided cooling (DSC) IGBT module has
been greatly improved in heat dissipation performance and has
been widely used. However, the heat dissipation efficiency of the
two heat paths is different, which will reduces the service life
and reliability of the module. In this paper, the finite element
Analysis (FEA) is used to analyze the three-dimensional heat
transfer model of DSC IGBT module, and the influence of the
material layers inside DSC IGBT module on the heat dissipation
performance is researched. The results were analyzed by
orthogonal design. The results show that the height and material
of spacer have great influence on the heat dissipation
performance of DSC IGBT module, but the influence of the
material of the mold compound and solder is not obvious. When
the height of the spacer is 1.5mm, the spacer material is Ag, the
mold compound material is Phenolic resin, and the solder
material is Nano-silver paste, the heat dissipation efficiency of
the two heat paths of the DSC IGBT module is the closest.
Keywords—double-sided cooling; insulated-gate
transistor (IGBT); heat dissipation performance
I. INTRODUCTION
With the increasing demand for the use of power devices,
DSC IGBT is proposed. It has stronger heat dissipation
capacity, smaller junction-to-case thermal resistance and
lower parasitic inductance. At present, DSC IGBT module has
been widely used. Compared with the traditional single-side
cooling (SSC) IGBT module, DSC IGBT module removes the
bonding wire, and the multi-layer structure is vertically
stacked, the upper and lower ends of the Direct Bonding
Copper (DBC) substrate, which is the reason why it has two
different heat paths. At the same time, the module failure
caused by the failure of the bonding wire is avoided because
the DSC IGBT removes the bonding wire. The service life of
module is improved [1].
DSC IGBT have a special structure. The structure is
asymmetrical in the vertical direction. Therefore, in the
This research was supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (NSFC) (grant No. 12272013) and the Beijing Key
Laboratory of Advanced Manufacturing Technology.
2023 24th International Conference on Electronic Packaging Technology (ICEPT)
process of service, the heat transferred by the upper and lower
heat paths is not the same, which will lead to the unbalanced
heat dissipation of DSC IGBT module. This will aggravate the
damage of the module. To improve the quality and reliability
of DSC IGBT module, it is necessary to research and optimize
the heat dissipation efficiency of the upper and lower heat
paths. Under the condition of double-sided water cooling, the
ratio of heat dissipation efficiency of two heat paths of DSC
IGBT module is the ratio of the temperature difference
between the respective cases on both sides and the water [2],
expressed as follows:
PU TcU − TwU
= ()
PL TcL − TwL
Where PU is the heat dissipated through upper heat path;
bipolar
PL is the heat dissipated through lower heat path; TcU and TcL
are the case temperature on the upper and lower heat paths,
respectively; TwU and TwL are the water temperature on the
upper and lower heat paths, respectively.
In this paper, ICEPAK software is used to conduct
thermal-electrical coupling analysis on DSC IGBT module 3D
finite element model under the power cycling, and the heat
dissipation efficiency of two heat paths is calculated and
compared. At the same time, the height of the spacer, the
material of the spacer, the material of the mold compound, and
the material of solder were changed [3,4]. Finally, through
orthogonal experiments, the influence of the material layers
inside DSC IGBT module on the heat dissipation performance
was obtained.
II. FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS
A. DSC IGBT mode
As shown in Fig. 1, the DSC IGBT module consists of
different material layers such as the DBC substrate, chip, and
spacer. The material layers are welded in the vertical direction,

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and finally packaged into a module form with mold compound.
The upper and lower ends of the module have DBC substrates,
which is the main reason for achieving double sided heat
dissipation.
Under the condition of meeting the calculation accuracy,
the simplified model of DSC IGBT module is established in
this paper. As shown in Fig. 2, the same water-cooled heat
sinks are placed at the upper and lower ends of the DSC IGBT
model. The water channel is shaped as "S", and each water-
cooled heat sink has a water inlet and an outlet. The finite
element analysis of DSC IGBT module under the condition of
double-sided water cooling is carried out by ICEPAK
software. The material parameters of each structural layer are
shown in Table Ⅰ. In the initial case, the height of the spacer is
2.5mm, the spacer material is Mo, the mold compound
material is Epoxy resin, and the solder material is SAC305.
DBC
Solder
Spacer
Solder
Chip
Solder
DBC
B. Loads and boundary conditions
This paper simulates the working condition of DSC IGBT
module under double-sided water cooling. The upper and
lower heat dissipation conditions are identical. The inlet flow
rate of the water-cooled heat sinks is 0.5m/s, and the water
temperature is 45°C. The two IGBT chips of DSC IGBT
module are applied with 100W, and the power cycling
simulation is carried out. The opening and closing time are 2s
and the total calculation time is 260s. Power cycling
experiments are usually carried out at room temperature, so
the ambient temperature is set at 23°C [5]. Under the same
conditions and environment, different cases with changing
factors were simulated. Real time monitoring of chip junction
temperature, module case temperature, water temperature and
other data.
C. Results and analysis
In the initial case, the finite element simulation results of
DSC IGBT module are shown in Fig. 3. According to the
temperature result cloud map, under the same heat dissipation
condition, the heat dissipation efficiency of the upper and
lower heat paths of the DSC IGBT module is not the same.
The heat transfer of the lower heat paths is more, which is
determined by the particularity of the module structure. After
the data of chip junction temperature, module case
temperature and water temperature are obtained, the heat
dissipation efficiency of upper heat path is 44.41% and that
of lower heat path is 55.59% under the initial case, which
indicates that the balance of heat dissipation of DSC IGBT
module needs to be optimized.

Fig. 1. Schematic of the DSC IGBT module.

Fig. 3. Temperature nephogram of DSC IGBT module.

Fig. 2. Finite element model of DSC IGBT. III. INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT FACTORS ON HEAT DISSIPATION
EFFICIENCY
TABLE I. MATERIAL PROPERTIES
A. The height of spacer
Material Thermal conductively Specific Heat Density
Keep other parameters consistent with the initial case,
(W/(m⋅K)) (J/(kg⋅K)) (1012/mm3) change the height of spacer, and establish the corresponding
Si 153 707 2.33E-09 finite element analysis model. The height of the spacer is
Cu 380 385 8.96E-09
taken as 2.5mm, 2mm and 1.5mm respectively to research the
influence of the height of the spacer on the heat dissipation
Al2O3 24 850 3.69E-09 efficiency of DSC IGBT. The results are shown in Fig. 4.
Ag 406 232 10.49E-09
It can be seen from the finite element simulation results
Mo 142 243 10.23E-09 that when the height of the spacer is 1.5mm, the heat
Epoxy resin 0.4 550 1.2E-09 dissipation efficiency of the upper and lower heat path of the
silica gel 1.2 2000 2.33E-09
DSC IGBT is the most balanced, and the heat dissipation
efficiency of the module is more balanced as the height of the
phenolic resin 1.25 1460 1.3E-09 spacer decreases. This is because the lower height of spacer
SAC305 54 230 7.3E-09 is conducive to the transfer of heat generated by the chip to
Nano-silver paste 240 234 8.58E-09 upper heat path.
Sn63Pb37 528 150 7.82E-09

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 Fig. 4. Effect of the spacer height on upper cooling efficiency.
B. The material of spacer
Keep other parameters consistent with the initial case,
change the material of spacer, and establish the
corresponding finite element analysis model. The material of
the spacer is taken as Mo, Ag and Cu respectively to research
the influence of the material of the spacer on the heat
dissipation efficiency of DSC IGBT. The results are shown
in Fig. 5.
It can be seen from the finite element simulation results
that when the material of the spacer is Ag, the heat dissipation
efficiency of the upper and lower heat path of the DSC IGBT
is the most balanced. This is because the thermal conductivity
of Ag is higher than that of the other two materials, which is
more conducive to the transfer of heat generated by the chip
to upper heat path.
Fig. 5. Effect of the material of spacer on upper cooling efficiency.
C. The material of the mold compound
Keep other parameters consistent with the initial case,
change the material of the mold compound, and establish the
corresponding finite element analysis model. The material of
the mold compound is taken as epoxy resin, silica gel and
phenolic resin respectively to research the influence of the
material of the mold compound on the heat dissipation
efficiency of DSC IGBT. The results are shown in Fig. 6.
It can be seen from the finite element simulation results
that there is little difference in the heat dissipation efficiency
of the upper and lower heat paths in the three cases, indicating
that the change of the material of the mold compound has
little influence on the heat dissipation balance of the module,
this is due to the material of the mold compound on both heat
paths has been changed.
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Fig. 6. Effect of the material of the mold compound on upper cooling
efficiency.
D. The material of solder
Keep other parameters consistent with the initial case,
change the material of solder, and establish the corresponding
finite element analysis model. The material of solder was
taken as SAC305, Nano-silver paste and Sn63Pb37
respectively to research the influence of the material of solder
on the heat dissipation efficiency of DSC IGBT. The results
are shown in Fig. 7.
It can be seen from the finite element simulation results
that there is little difference in the heat dissipation efficiency
of the upper and lower heat paths in the three cases. Since the
material of solder of the two heat paths is changed at the same
time, there is little effect on the heat dissipation efficiency.
Fig. 7. Effect of the material of solder on upper cooling efficiency.
IV. ORTHOGONAL DESIGN
Orthogonal design is one of the most important design
methods in the multifactor test. To understand the influence
of the materials layers inside the DSC IGBT module on the
module heat dissipation efficiency more clearly, the
orthogonal design based on the finite element analysis
method is carried out in this paper [6]. As shown in Table Ⅱ,
this paper selects four key factors affecting the heat
dissipation efficiency of DSC IGBT module: the height of the
spacer, the material of the spacer, the material of the mold
compound, and the material of solder. Three levels are
selected for the four factors, and the orthogonal matrix table
is obtained, as shown in Table Ⅲ. The corresponding finite
element model is established according to the 9 groups of
parameters, and the heat dissipation efficiency ratio of upper
heat path is obtained, as shown in the last column of Table Ⅲ.
 Minitab software is used to analyze the results, and the DSC IGBT modules becomes more balanced; When the
main effects of each factor are shown in Fig. 8. According to material of the spacer is Ag, the heat dissipation of DSC
the orthogonal experimental results, when the height of the IGBT modules is more balanced; The material of the mold
spacer is 1.5mm, the spacer material is Ag, the mold compound and the material of solder have little influence on
compound material is Phenolic resin, and the solder material the heat dissipation efficiency of DSC IGBT module.
is Nano-silver paste, the heat dissipation efficiency of the two
heat paths of the DSC IGBT module is the closest. (3) The orthogonal design results show that: when the
height of the spacer is 1.5mm, the spacer material is Ag, the
TABLE II. FACTORS AND LEVELS OF PARAMETERS. mold compound material is Phenolic resin, and the solder
material is Nano-silver paste, the heat dissipation efficiency
Factors Levels of the two heat paths of the DSC IGBT module is the closest.
1 2 3 The material of the spacer has the most significant influence
on the heat dissipation efficiency of DSC IGBT module.
Spacer height/mm 2.5 2 1.5
Spacer material Mo Cu Ag ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Mold compound Epoxy resin Silica gel Phenolic resin This research was supported by the National Natural
Solder SAC305 Nano-silver paste Sn63Pb37 Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (grant No. 12272013)
and the Beijing Key Laboratory of Advanced Manufacturing
Technology.
TABLE III. MATERIAL PROPERTIES
REFERENCES
No. Spacer Spacer Mold Solder Upper cooling
height material compound efficiency [1] Z Zeng, K.H Ou, L Wang, Y Yu. “Reliability-Oriented Automated
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3 1 3 3 3 47.68% [2] J Chen, E.P Deng, Y.M Zhang, Y.Z Huang. “Junction-to-Case Thermal
4 2 1 2 1 45.49% Resistance Measurement and Analysis of Press-Pack IGBTs Under
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5 2 2 3 2 47.92% electronics, 37(7), pp. 8543–8553.
6 2 3 1 2 47.98% [3] Y.Q Ma, J.F Li, F.F Dong, J Yu. “Power cycling failure analysis of
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Fig. 8. Orthogonal analyzing results.

V. CONCLUSION
This paper establishes the coupled thermal-electrical
model to simulate the power cycling and gain the heat
dissipation efficiency of upper heat path. Based on the
orthogonal design analysis, the following conclusions are
obtained：
(1) The heat dissipation performance of the upper and
lower heat paths of the DSC IGBT module is different, and
the heat dissipation efficiency of the lower heat path is higher.
(2) Under the premise of a single change factor: with the
reduction of the height of the spacer, the heat dissipation of

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