Fraunhofer IZM’s Jens Göhre was named as recipient of the ECPE Young Engineer Award at the CIPS 2010 (International Conference on Integrated Power Electronic Systems) in Nuremberg. Martin Schneider-Ramelow, Ute Geißler and Klaus-Dieter Lang were co-authors of his paper, entitled "Interface Degradation of Al Heavy Wire Bonds on Power Semiconductors during Active Power Cycling Measured by the Shear Test".

The study presented in the paper investigated the influence of temperature ranges and levels on the lifetime of Al heavy-wire bonds on power semiconductors. Using a sophisticated experimental assembly, the authors decoupled the heavy-wire degradation from the effects of other degradation mechanisms that typically occur in temperature cycles in a power module, such as temperature increases resulting from solder fatigue. The analysis results provide a valuable foundation for the development of a technology-, material- and geometry-dependant lifetime model for heavy-wire bonds on power semiconductors.

The 32-year-old Göhre completed his degree in Industrial Engineering, with majors in microsystem technology and strategic management, at the TU Berlin in 2006. He has worked as part of Fraunhofer IZM's research group Chip and Wire Bonding since that time.