Fundamentals of backside metals system for 5G RF power modules (BackMet5G)

The advanced RF power modules have become the key electronic component within 5G communication applications, such as autonomous vehicles, Internet of Things (IoT), High-speed mobile network, etc. A robust and highly reliable RF power module is the bottleneck of 5G communication system when it is required to work at more harsh environments, such as high temperature, high humidity, high current density, etc.

The Backside Metals System (BMS) is a stacked metal multilayer in the backside of RF power chip, with the functions of chip attachment and electrical conductivity. However, BMS has a lot of fundamental reliability problems with several mixed failure mechanisms due to multiple material combinations, multiple interfaces, multiscale and multiple loadings. These problems can’t be solved in an empirical way by the trial-and-error method, which is highly time- and cost- consuming.

This project aims to develop fundamental physics-of-failure models to predict the potential failures in the BMS in 5G RF power modules. The research contents will include: (1) Investigating the fundamental failure mechanisms within the multiple material layers and interfaces of backside metals system with multiscale & multiphysics simulations; (2) Optimizing the backside metals system with the machine learning assisted simulation method by considering the multiple combinations, multiple interfaces, multiscale and multiple loadings. (3) Developing the robust optimization method based on the simulations and experiments as the design role for backside metals system for 5G RF power modules.