Interfacial Bonding Strength of TiN Film Coated on Si_3N_4 Ceramic Substrate

The fraction of TiN/Si3N4 in the cross section was observed with scanning electric microscope （SEM）, and residual stresses of TiN coated on the surface of Si3N4 ceramic were measured with X-ray diffraction （XRD）.The hardness of TiN film was measured, and bonding strength of TiN film coated on Si3N4 substrate was measured by scratching method. The formed mechanism of residual stress and the failure mechanism of the bonding interface in the film were analyzed, and the adhesion mechanism of TiN film was investigated preliminarily. The results show that residual stresses of TiN film are all behaved as compressive stress, and TiN film is represented smoothly with brittle fracture, which is closely bonded with Si3N4 substrate. TiN film has high hardness and bonding strength of about 500 MPa, which could satisfy usage requests of the surface of cutting Si3N4 ceramic.

a-Si/c-Si heterojunction solar cells on SiSiC ceramic substrates

Silicon thin-film solar cells are considered to be one of the most promising cells in the future for their potential advantages, such as low cost, high efficiency, great stability, simple processing, and none-pollution. In this paper, latest progress on poly-crystalline silicon solar cells on ceramic substrates achieved by our group was reported. Rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD) was used to deposited poly-crystalline silicon thin films, and the grains of as-grown film were enlarged by Zone-melting Recrystallization (ZMR). As a great change in cell′s structure, traditional diffused pn homojunction was replaced by a-Si/c-Si heterojunction, which lead is to distinct improvement in cell′s efficiency. A conversion efficiency of 3.42% has been achieved on 1 cm2 a-Si/c-Si heterojunction solar cell (Isc=16.93 mA, Voc=310.9 mV, FF=0.6493, AM=1.5 G, 24 ℃), while the cell with diffused homojunction only got an efficiency of 0.6%. It indicates that a-Si emitter formed at low temperature might be more suitable for thin film cell on ceramics.

Failure Analysis of Ceramic Substrates Used in High Power IGBT Modules

High voltage power modules are used in numerous applications to build high power converters. Technically, these modules are made of different materials and among them, dielectric materials are organic and inorganic. Organic insulators (gels) are used to avoid corona discharges in the vicinity of connecting wires and high voltage dies (diodes and transistors) and to protect them from moisture and contaminants. Inorganic insulators (ceramic substrates) are used to insulate the high voltage which dies from the grounded elements and to transfer heat to the heat sink. Despite being used since the late 90s, there is a lack of fundamental knowledge about the electrical properties of these substrates. Consequently, manufacturers tend to assure the reliability by over sizing them. As there are no clear rules for how to do that, failures occur, leading to the converter shutdown. The aim of this study is to bring new information about the understanding of the dielectric strength of ceramic materials used in these modules. We have focused our work on the correlation between the mechanical and the dielectric properties of ceramics by using relevant experiments. We provide new information about the impact of existing cracks on the ceramic dielectric failure, according to the electromechanical breakdown model. Our conclusions bring crucial information about the precautions to be taken during manufacturing and implementation of these substrates in power modules to reduce the likelihood of the particular causes of failure.

Influence of dopant concentration on the transparent and thermal properties of Nd_2O_3-doped alumina translucent ceramics

The transparent and thermal developments of high-purity Al_2O_3 doped with different levels of Nd_2O_3 were investigated. Dopant levels ranged from 500–1500 ppm（Nd/Al atomic ratio）. The samples were characterized with X-ray diffraction（XRD）, scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, Raman spectroscopy, transmittance spectroscopy and specific heat measurement. Results revealed that with proper Nd doped, Nd^（3＋） ions solid dissolved in Al_2O_3 lattice, resulting in small and uniform grain and high bonding vibration, which was beneficial to transparent and thermal properties. With 1000 ppm Nd doped, Al_2O_3 translucent ceramics showed a total transmittance of 89% and thermal conductivity of 41.7 W/m/K, indicating a potential application as substrate for effective heat dissipation and multi emitting surface in LEDs module.

Additive Manufacturing of Liquid-Cooled Ceramic Heat Sinks:An Experimental and Numerical Study

With recent advances in power electronic packaging technologies,liquid-cooled ceramic heat sinks have been considered as a promising solution for further improving the performance of power electronic devices.In this study,several aluminum oxide heat sinks were fabricated and tested using the digital light processing-based ad-ditive manufacturing method,to verify their practical performance.The results showed that the complex cooling structures inside the heat sinks can be completely formed and exhibited high surface quality.The experimental thermal and hydraulic performances of the heat sinks were consistent with the numerically modeled predictions.Furthermore,by exploiting the advantages of additive manufacturing,a direct manifold microchannel(MMC)configuration was designed to reduce the vertical flow of the traditional MMC configuration and achieve an im-proved cooling efficiency.At a constant volumetric flow rate of 1 L/min,the direct MMC configuration achieved a 19.8%reduction in pressure drop and an 11.8%reduction in thermal resistance,as well as a more uniform temperature distribution.