JP2000058746A - Device for cooling inside of module - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively cool a semiconductor chip in a sealed module. SOLUTION: A bus bar 16 is connected to a semiconductor chip 11 through an electrode terminal 14 and a metal thin wire 15. The bus bar 16, the metal thin wire 15, and the electrode terminal 14 are all made of a material with high heat-conductivity. When the temperature of the semiconductor chip 11 in a power element module 10 rises, the heat is propagated also to the bus bar 16, raising the temperature of bus bar 16 as well. The bus bar 16 is provided with a radiation fin 25 made of metal of high heat-conductivity, etc., as a heat- radiation means, to cool the bus bar 16, so that the electrode terminal 14 and the metal thin wire 15 are cooled as well, resulting in efficient cooling of the semiconductor chip 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooling device for a semiconductor chip in a power element module for electric power used in an electric vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An inverter for supplying a predetermined AC power to a coil of a motor such as an electric vehicle is composed of a power switching element, a smoothing capacitor, and the like. As the power semiconductor, a power element formed on a semiconductor chip such as an IGBT or a power MOSFET is used. The semiconductor chip on which the power element is formed is sealed in one power element module together with a control circuit and the like.

In such a power element module, since a large current flows through the sealed power element itself, the power element generates heat and may be thermally damaged. In order to prevent such thermal destruction, conventionally, a sealed semiconductor chip has been cooled by forced cooling means such as a heat sink. FIG. 1 shows a conventional cooling method of a power element module. The power element module 10 is used to electrically insulate the semiconductor chip 11 having a power element (not shown) such as an IGBT or a MOSFET formed on the surface, and an electronic component external to the semiconductor chip 11 and the power element module 10. An insulating substrate 12, a heat dissipating metal plate 13 for dissipating heat generated in the semiconductor chip 11, and electrode terminals 14 for electrically connecting the power element module 10 and external components.
And a thin metal wire 15 for connecting the electrode terminal 14 to an input / output pad (not shown) on the semiconductor chip 11. These components are sealed with a resin or the like to form one power element module 10. The bus bar 16 is a metal wiring connecting the power element module 10 and the smoothing capacitor 17, and is fixed to the electrode terminal 14 with a screw 18, and is fixed to the smoothing capacitor 17 with a screw 19. A heat sink 21 having cooling water 20 flowing therein is provided below the heat dissipating metal plate 13, and the semiconductor chip 11 in the module is interposed between the heat dissipating metal plate 13 and the insulating substrate 12 and the solders 22 and 23. To cool.

[0004]

However, when the semiconductor chip 11 is cooled by the heat sink 21, the insulating substrate 12 and the solders 22, 23 having low thermal conductivity are interposed between the semiconductor chip 11 and the heat sink 21. Because
The semiconductor chip 11 cannot be cooled sufficiently.

Although the smoothing capacitor 17 may also generate heat by itself, the only means for radiating the heat is to radiate natural air from the surface of the capacitor, but a resin film for insulation is wound around the surface. Therefore, the heat dissipation is very low, and the smoothing capacitor 17 does not have sufficient heat dissipation and the life is shortened. Therefore, it is necessary to connect a capacitor having a capacity larger than a desired capacity as the smoothing capacitor 17, and the cost has been increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an in-module cooling device that effectively cools a semiconductor chip in a sealed module.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an in-module cooling device for a power element module having a power element encapsulated therein and an electrode terminal connected to the power element and a thin metal wire on the surface thereof. A radiator is attached to the metal wiring attached to the terminal and electrically connected to another member, and the module is cooled by cooling the metal wiring by the radiator.

Further, according to the present invention, a power element is encapsulated,
An in-module cooling device for a power element module having a power element and an electrode terminal connected by a thin metal wire on a surface thereof, wherein the electrode terminal is attached to a forced cooling means via an insulating material, and the electrode terminal is cooled. Thus, the inside of the module is cooled.

As described above, in the present invention, by utilizing the fact that the electrode terminals are connected to the semiconductor chip sealed in the module with a material having high thermal conductivity, the electrode terminals are effectively cooled. Cooling of semiconductor chips.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration of a power element module provided with the cooling device of the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, a radiating fin 25 made of a metal having a high thermal conductivity is provided as a radiating means on the bus bar 16. The bus bar 16 is connected to the semiconductor chip 11 via the electrode terminals 14 and the thin metal wires 15. Bus bar 16
Since the metal wires 15 and the electrode terminals 14 are all made of a material having a high thermal conductivity, when the temperature of the semiconductor chip 11 rises, the heat propagates to the bus bar 16 and the temperature of the bus bar 16 also rises. . Therefore, the bus bar 16 is cooled by dissipating heat by the radiation fins 25,
When the bus bar 16 is cooled, the electrode terminals 14 and the fine metal wires 15 are also cooled, and as a result, the semiconductor chip 11 is efficiently cooled.

Further, the smoothing capacitor 17 may also generate heat by itself, and the heat can be radiated from the radiating fins 25 via the bus bar 16, so that the smoothing capacitor 17 can also be cooled.

As described above, in the first embodiment, the radiation fins 25 are provided on the bus bar 16 so that the semiconductor chip 11 can be efficiently cooled, and at the same time, the smoothing capacitor 17 can be cooled. Possible.

In the first embodiment, the radiating fins 25 are provided as the radiating means. However, the radiating fins are not limited to the radiating fins, but may be any as long as the bus bars 16 can be cooled. A means for forcibly cooling, such as a cooler, may be provided at the position 16. Further, in the first embodiment, the heat sink 21 is provided under the metal plate 13 for heat radiation, and the heat radiation by the heat radiation fins 25 and the cooling of the semiconductor chip 11 by the heat sink 21 are simultaneously performed. If the heat radiation is sufficient, heat sink 2
1 is not necessary.

Next, a configuration of a power element module including the cooling device according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, the electrode terminals 14 are connected to the heat sink 21 via the insulating material 31. Insulation material 31
Is provided to electrically insulate the electrode terminal 14 from the heat sink 21. Therefore, the thickness of the insulating material 31 may be such that the electrode terminals 14 and the heat sink 21 are electrically insulated. Therefore, the electrode terminals 14 can be sufficiently cooled by the heat sink 21 even through the insulating material 31. Since the electrode terminals 14 are connected to the semiconductor chip 11 via the fine metal wires 15 having high thermal conductivity, the semiconductor chip 11 can be cooled as a result. Also,
The electrode terminal 14 is also connected to a smoothing capacitor 17 via a bus bar 16, so that the smoothing capacitor 17 can also be cooled.

As described above, in the above-described embodiment, the heat radiation fins 25 are attached to the bus bar 16 connected to the electrode terminals 14 as the heat radiation means, and the heat sinks 21 are attached to the electrode terminals 14 as the forced cooling means. The semiconductor chip 11 can be cooled.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, a heat radiating means or a forced cooling means is attached to a place connected to a sealed semiconductor chip with a member having a high thermal conductivity, whereby the module is sealed in a module. The semiconductor chip and the smoothing capacitor can be cooled.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional cooling device for a power element module.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a cooling device of the power element module according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a cooling device for a power element module according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 power element module, 11 semiconductor chip, 1
2 Insulating substrate, 13 Metal plate for heat radiation, 14 Electrode terminal, 1
5 Fine metal wires, 16 bus bars, 17 smoothing capacitors, 18 and 19 screws, 20 cooling water, 21 heat sinks, 22 and 23 solders, 25 radiation fins, 31 insulating materials.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Katsuya Shikada 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyota Motor Corporation (72) Inventor Takahisa 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Toyota Motor Corporation F Terms (reference) 5E322 AA01 AA05 AA11 AB02 AB08 BB03 BB10 FA01 5F036 AA01 BA04 BA05 BA23 BB05 BB18 BB35 BB43 BC06 BD01 BE09

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An in-module cooling device for a power element module having a power element encapsulated therein and an electrode terminal connected to the power element and a thin metal wire on a surface thereof, wherein the cooling element is attached to the electrode terminal and includes another member. A cooling means for cooling the inside of the module by attaching a heat radiating means to the metal wiring for electrically connecting the module and cooling the metal wiring by the heat radiating means. 2. An in-module cooling device in a power element module having a power element encapsulated therein and having on its surface an electrode terminal connected to the power element and a thin metal wire, wherein said forced cooling means is provided with an insulating material interposed therebetween. An in-module cooling device, wherein an inside of a module is cooled by attaching an electrode terminal and cooling the electrode terminal.