Semiconductor Epoxy Mold Compounds

Semiconductor grade epoxy molding compounds with high electrical stability

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Semiconductor Epoxy Mold Compounds

Semiconductor molding compounds are fine filled, electrically stable compounds, ideal for the miniaturised semiconductor packaging requirements. They have small filler sizes, great spiral flow and can be electrically stable at high temperatures.

Epoxy molding compounds that are graded for semiconductor use are CTE matched to common die substrates and are made with nano packages in mind. They cover and protect the die and the wirebonding while also passing the most stringent moisture and temperature tests.

Excellent electrical stability is desired for epoxy molding compounds used in the encapsulation of high power, discrete semiconductors applications that also operate a high temperatures.These molding compounds tend to have the lowest ionic content, the highest dielectric strength, the most stable dielectrics and the lowest ionic conductivity over the widest possible temperature range.

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66 products
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66 products

Product Selector Guide

Semiconductor Epoxy Molding Compounds
Product Name Key Properties  
Color Filler Content (%) Specific
Gravity
Glass Transition
Temperature (Tg), °C
CTE, Alpha 1
ppm/°C
CTE, Alpha 2
ppm/°C
Gel Time (s) Ionic
Content
Na+/Cl-
ppm
Spiral Flow (cm) Thermal Conductivity (W/mK) Packages  
LINQSOL
EMC-7560
Black 85 1.95 205 10 52 30 10 / 10 82 0.9 SiC MOSFET
LINQSOL
EMC-9070
Black 89 2.01 126 8 30 35 6.7 / 4.1 127 - QFN, DFN
GR15F-MOD2C Black  81.5 1.93 236 15 42 31 5 / 5 109 0.78 SiC MOSFET
GR 2220 Black 75 1.82 161 18.5 63.3 18  3.6 / 10.4  81.28 - MnO2 Caps
GR 2310 Gold  72 1.82 175 20 73 12 9 / 13 72 0.64  MnO2 Caps   
GR 2310V  Gold  72 1.85 180 18 70 28 9 / 19 114 0.7  MnO2 Caps   
GR 2320  Black 71 1.8 170 20 75 14 4 / 10  76.2 0.7 MnO2 Caps  
GR 2330 Orange  74 1.83 175 19 67 14 3 / 8 81 0.65 MnO2 Caps   
GR 2710 Gold  81.7 1.93 161 13 51 15 5 / 8 105 - AO Caps  
GR 2710FF Gold  84 1.96 160 11 47 13 6 / 7 116 0.8  AO Caps  
GR 2720  Black 79 1.87 160 18 58 19 2 / 5 96.5 0.7 AO Caps   
GR 2811  Gold  85 1.96 162 13 45 15 1 / 7 86.3 2.7  POSCAP   
GR 2812  Gold  90 2 105 7 29 20 2.7 / 7.7 73 - POSCAP   
GR 2820 Black 83 1.9 183 12 45 20 6.6 / 7 66 - POSCAP  
GR2821  Black 85 1.96 116 13 45 31 1 / 7 101 2.7 POSCAP   
GR 2822 Black 88 1.98 105 7 36 - 2.9 / 8 99 - POSCAP  
GR 30 Black 81 1.9 183 13 57 17 - 62 0.95 T0220/247  
 GR 300 Black  80 1.94 185 12 51 19 4.5 / 9.3 34  0.95 T0220/93/252   
GR 30HT Black 72 2.1 186 21 56 21 20 / 20 88 1.9 T0/93  
GR 360A-ST Black  77 1.84 168 15 59 23 98 - Diodes,TO,DIP    
GR 510 Black 88 1.99 113 8 27 36 5 / 10 111 - QFP, SOT   
GR 510-HP Black 88 1.99 116 7.5 30.5 31 4 / 6.1 101.6 - Resistors  
 GR 600-P1 Black 88 119 7.1 31 27 4.9 / 5.9 34  - DPAK/D2PAK   
GR 600 SL2 Black 87 2.03 165 7 42 27 - 83 - TO252  
GR 640HV Black 74 1.83 160 16 60 26 5 / 10 75 0.85 SOT,SOD,SMX   
GR 640HV-L1 Black 75 1.85 165 16 58 28 6 / 21 71 - TO, SMX, SOT  
GR 700 C3D Black 87 1.97 118 8 27 27 3 / 9 107 0.9 TO,SOIC,PQFN  
GR 700 C4C Black 89 2 120 7 36 30 3 / 7 114 0.9 SOP,DPAK,QFP  
GR 700-P2 Black - - 115 7 29 24 >15 89 - TO247, TO252  
GR 750 Black - - 235 10 40 26 >15 106 - SiC MOSFETS  
GR 750 X1 Black - - 207 8 42 24 >15 92 - SiC MOSFETS  
GR 750 X2 Black 84 1.94 182 9 32 27 5 / 15 114 0.8 ZIP,TDA2002  
GR 825-73B Black 80 1.9 135 12 45 22 - 100 0.8 SOIC, SSOP  
GR 900 Q1G2 Black 89 - 112 6 33 25 3 / 13 137 QFN, DFN  
GR 900 Q1L4 Black 89 2.02 124 7 24 36 3 / 8 124 0.9 QFN, DFN  
GR 900C Q1L4E Black 86.5 1.98 120 11 37 38 3 / 8 132  - QFN, DFN  
GR 910-C Black 88 2.01 130 9 23 47 4 / 7 203 0.9 QFN,BGA,LGA   
GR 910-C4 Black 88 2 130 8 28 44 - 170 1 QFN,BGA,LGA   
GR 9810-1P Black 85 1.95 170 11 50 32 - 150 0.9 Sensors  
GR 9810-1PF Black 86 1.95 170 11 40 40 - 170 0.9 POP, SCSP  
KL G200S Black 77 1.95 175 20 78 20 3 / 8 80 1.4  DO214  
KL 1000-3A Black 75 2 165 25 77 23 3 / 7 80 1.3 ZIP,SIL,DIP   
MG 15F-0140 Black - 1.81 195 21 70 17 3 / 5 50.8 0.66 Rectifiers  
MG 15F-35A Black - 1.82 190 21 70 20 20 / 20 64 0.7 Rectifiers  
MG 21F-02 Black 71 1.81 179 21 62 22 4 / 6 65 0.7  Diodes  
MG 27F-0521LF Gold - 1.91 167 21 67 25 4 / 3 63 0.65  MLCC Caps  
MG 33F-0520  Gold - 1.87 170 20 70 14 - 64 - Ta Caps  
MG 33F-0659 Black 76 1.83 175 18 60 14 - 66 - Ta Caps  
MG 33F-0660 Gold 76 1.83 175 18 60 14 - 66 - Ta Caps  
MG 33F-0661 Gold 72 1.81 164 18 60 22 - 69 0.8 Ta Caps  
MG 36F-25A Black 1.82 170 19 65 30 - 76  - Discrete, DIP  
MG 40FS Black 1.84 160 20 75 25 5 / 5 89 0.95  PDIP, SOIC  
MG 40FS-AM Black 1.84 160 20 75 25 5 / 5 71 0.95 PDIP, SOIC   
MG 52F Black 79 1.84 155 14 60 24 2 / 2 76 0.95 TSSOP, SOIC  
MG 52F-99BNXP Black 79 1.88 155 14 56 21 2 / 2 78 0.95 TSSOP   
MG 57F-0660 Gold - 1.82 168 21 70 14 20 / 20 - - MnO2 Ta Caps  

 

Legacy Semiconductor Epoxy Molding Compounds
Product Name Key Properties
Color Specific
Gravity
Glass Transition
Temperature (Tg), °C
CTE, Alpha 1
ppm/°C
CTE, Alpha 2
ppm/°C
Moisture absorption Ionic
Content
Na+/K+/Cl-
ppm
Spiral Flow  Thermal Conductivity (W/mK) Dielectric Constant
MG15F-35A Black 1.82 191 21 63 0.64% 4/1/7 28" 0.7 3.5
MG21F-02 Black  1.81 179 21 62 0.61% 4/1/6 26" 0.7 3.6
MG33F-0520 Gold 1.87 170 20 70 - 1.5/-/2 25" - 4.3
MG33F-0661 Gold 1.81 164 18 60 0.42% - 27" 0.8 4.1
MG57-0660 Gold 1.82 168 21 70 0.42% - 30" - 4.2
MG33F-0602 Black 1.80 162 22 65 -  2/-/7 43" - 3.9

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly is an HTRB test?

A "High Temperature Reverse Bias" test is a common reliability test that exposes the power devices (and hence the EMC) to the "worst case scenario" under which it must perform and not fail. During the HTRB test, the power semiconductor devices are stressed at the maximum rated reverse breakdown voltage at a temperature close to their maximum rated junction temperature (Tj max) over a defined period of time. As such, a HTRB cannot be completely understood until the variables of voltage, temperature and time are defined.

What is the ionic content in epoxy mold compound that causes semiconductor device failure?

There are four main elements that should be minimized in epoxy molding compounds. There are Chlorine (Cl-), Sodium (Na+), Fluorine (F-) and Potassium (K+), where chlorine and sodium are the most important. All the ionic content shoudl be kept under 20ppm for each individual element and less than 5ppm is desired for Chlorine and Sodium.

What is Reverse Bias?

Basically, semiconductors allow current to flow in one direction: from the p-type (positive) to the n-type (negative). Reverse bias is applying direct current (DC) voltage to prevent current flow in a diode, transistor or similar. Wikipedia has a good desription in Reverse Bias

What is the relationship between Permittivity and Dielectric Constant?

The dielectric constant is unitless because it is actually the ratio of two permittivity values: the permittivity of the substance to the permittivity of the free space. Since the lowest possible permittivity is obtained in a vacuum, the permittivity of the substance is always higher and therefore the dielectric constant is always higher than 1.

What is Ionic Mobility?

Otherwise known as Electrical Mobility, it is the ability of charged electrons or protons to move through a substance (in this case epoxy mold compound) in response to an electric field that pulls them.

How can I decap ICs?

We could suggest the obvious mechanical methods but if you came here you probably want to preserve the integrity of the bond wires and the die. That's why, typically, customers use a Nitric or Sulfuric acid to etch away the epoxy. Though you should definitely take the necessary precautions with a hume hood, no inhalation, customers have used this successfully without damaging the wires. Here are almost 8 million words (30 fps, we did the math)


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Epoxy Molding Compounds

Epoxy Molding Compounds (EMC) by their nature have very good electrical insulation properties. Epoxy Mold Compounds are often called "functional epoxies" or "high solid epoxies" because they are heavily loaded with fillers. These fillers, (typically silica, though other fillers are used for other properties such as thermal conductivity) are loaded more than 50% by weight be default. Highly filled systems have weight % filler loadings higher than 70% with "very highly filled loadings" as high as 92% filled by weight.

These highly-filled systems provide epoxy molding compounds with very good dielectric strength and a very high breakdown voltage, which themselves are good electrical insulation properties. These two values however are poor indicators of what is meant by "Good electrical stability" for EMCs

Low permittivity means high electrical stability for epoxy mold compounds
Figure 1: Low Permittivity means high electrical stability
Graph of ionic conductivity at different frequencies to show electrical stability of epoxy mold compound
Figure 2: Ionic conductivity at different frequencies

What do we mean by good electrical stability?

Good electrical stability means that there is very little ionic movement within the epoxy mold compounds when semiconductor devices are under reverse bias at elevated temperatures. The High Temperature Reverse Bias (HTRB) reliability test is an excellent industry-developed and accepted test that tests the electrical stability of EMCs

Epoxy mold compound that are considered to have excellent electrically stability are thus those that:

  • Have low ionic conductivity
  • Have a low and stable permittivity at temperatures up to 200°C
  • Have a high dielectric strength
  • Have a stable dielectric constant over a frequency range from 1 kHz up to 1.8 GHz

What causes poor electrical stability in mold compounds?

There are two main causes of poor electrical stability in EMCs:

  1. The ingredients used have high ionic content
  2. The epoxy resin and hardner combination has high ionic conductivity

EMC subcomponents have high ionic content

Epoxy molding compounds are made up of many components including epoxy resins, curing agents, catalysts, fillers, pigments and additives. Each of these ingredients can contain ions in the form of chlorine (Cl-), Sodium (Na+), Fluorine (F-) and Potassium (K+). There are elements other than these that have ions, but these are the ions most frequently present and in the highest quantities - therefore are of the greatest interest. As you can see next to the elements listed, Chlorine and Fluorine both have negative (-) ions and Sodium and Potassium both have postitive (+) ions.

Of these four elements, the biggest culprits are Chlorine (Cl-) and Sodium (Na+). If the total ionic content is too high, or the ionic content of each of the Chlorine or Sodium is too high, then the risk of gate current leakage and device malfunction increases. In all semiconductor applications, it is prudent to have the total extractable ionic content to be less than 80ppm and the extractable content of each element to be below 20ppm. In high power semiconductor applications which operate at higher voltages and higher temperatures, it is better to have the total ionics to be below 20ppm, and of each element to be below 5ppm. As application temperature and power increase, the lower the ionic content the better.

Epoxy resin/hardner combination has high ionic conductivity

When exposed to the electric field caused by the DC voltage applied, these ions have a tendency to move. If they move too much, a gate current leakage occurs and gradually increases which ultimately leads to the device malfunction.

Different combinations of epoxy resin and hardener, will provide different ionic conductivities of the base epoxy. Specifically, as illustrated in Figure 1 below, a standard epoxy cresol novolac resin with a standard phenolic resin might have a low permittivity at lower temperatures, but quickly elevate at higher temperatures leading to gate current leakage failures for power semiconductor devices.

Why is electrical stability important for EMC?

The roadmap for medium and high voltage power semiconductors manufacturers is to move from Silcion (Si) die to Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductors. SiC offers the possibility of operating at higher voltages compared to Silcion, whereas GaN offres the possibility of medium power with a much higher switching frtequency compared to Silicon.

As such, even silicon can applications have applications up to 600V which requires good electrical stability for epoxy mlding compounds. As these applications switch to SiC which can run up to 3300V, the need for improved electrical stability will only be greater.

Stable dielectric constant of epoxy mold compound
Figure 3: Stable dielectric constant up to 1.8GHz

Formulating electrically stable Molding Compounds

Epoxy mold compound formulators can develop materials that will pass the HTRB test by developing EMCs that:

  • Have low ionic content, low ionic content and low ionic mobility
  • Use ion trappers
  • Have low permittivity
  • Use epoxy resin & hardener combinations that have the lowest ionic content and mobility

Selecting Semiconductor Mold Compounds

When looking for epoxy molding compounds that are very electrically stable, look for the following characteristics:

  • Look for epoxies with a low permittivity over a wide temperature range as in Figure 1.
  • Look for epoxies with a low ionic conductivity over a wide frequency range and at elevated temperatures as in Figure 2
  • Look for epoxies with a stable dielectric constant up to 1.8 GHz as in Figure 3.