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Power Electronics Packaging

T37.4 - Innovative Patterning Technology for Advanced Packaging and Power Electronics Applications

Thursday, March 26, 2026
11:20 AM - 11:40 AM CT
Location: 217A
Silicon Carbide (SiC) features prominently in power electronics for its ability to support high-voltages and high-temperature operations. However, its extreme hardness and chemical inertness pose significant challenges for scalable, damage-free patterning. Here we report on a novel laser assisted microwave plasma dry etch technology that has high etch rates and excellent anisotropy to enable the high aspect ratio features (e.g. deep SiC trenches) critical for next generation AI and power architectures. This is a two-step process where the substrate is first patterned by laser sensitization followed by material removal through a microwave-based plasma etch. The mechanism of this etch and its optimization by balancing the participation of free radicals (which drive chemical processes) and ions (etch residue removal) is discussed. Comparison between etching of SiC and glass will be used to elucidate the etching mechanism and performance. The current work demonstrates improvement of etch rate by 10-15x from conventional etching techniques and the use of laser pre-treatment to provide directionality to the etch process.