Review of Power Electronics Packaging and the Use of Copper Tungsten as a Heat Sink

Power electronics are important in managing applications such as hybrid vehicles, power supplies, and induction heating to name a few. Power electronics mainly involve the control and conversion of an energy source from one form to another. The encasing of these devices requires design that will enhance thermal dissipation along with the improvement of electrical properties. The packaging of PE is considered everything non-electrical that is required to convert an electronic circuit design into a manufactured assembly [1]. Packaging is one of the most important factors in the efficiency of power electronics. With more sophisticated products being developed today, there are higher loads and amounts of stress that are placed upon the packaging of these semiconductor materials. Typical power electronics today include devices such as gate turn off thyristors, power MOSFETs, and insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) as seen below in Figure 1.