Towards enhancing the life of plastic power packages using design optimization

Microelectronic package design is driven by performance, cost, reliability, and manufacturability considerations. With product design cycle time playing an important role in the commercial viability of electronic products, automated design procedures can be effectively used if their role is integrated early enough in the design cycle. A nonlinear programming (NLP)-based design optimization methodology is presented that is a tool for finding the layout and dimensions of different packaging components, or for evaluating and improving existing packages. The finite element method is used as the analysis tool. Appropriate failure theories and lifetime prediction models are used to drive the design changes. A detailed example involving a plastic power package serves to illustrate the design methodology.