The general trend towards increasing power density of power electronics systems yields to major conse­quences:

• the surface for heat exchange to ambient is reduced,
• therefore, the temperature of the components rises,
• the reliability of components and interconnects decreases.

In addition, more and more applications require to operate power electronics at ambient temperatures above 120°C, like in automotive, aerospace, and lighting applications.

Component manufacturers are aware of this trend and are providing “high temperature” solutions. In any case, however, thermal management has to be optimized.

The seminar aims for describing the state of the art of silicon high temperature power devices and electro­nics. SiC electronics will not be treated because of the ECPE SiC User Forum held in March 2006. The major part of the Seminar will deal with thermal manage­ment where all aspects of materials and methods known and available will be discussed. This is done by case studies as well as basic information necessary to work out practical solutions.

Prof. Eckhard Wolfgang (Siemens Corporate Techno­logy, Munich) will chair the seminar together with Mr. Dave Saums (DS&A LLC Consulting, USA) and Mr. Thomas Harder (ECPE).

All presentations and discussions will be in English.