News

Mitsubishi Materials Corporation has started joint development of a new aluminum nitrite (AlN) ceramic circuit board for power modules with U-MAP Inc. (U-MAP), a materials venture from Nagoya University, as a development partner.

Recently, the tightening of environmental regulations in various parts of the world has led to acceleration of electrification, in particular of automobiles, and demand is expected to rapidly increase for power modules, which are used for electric drive control in vehicles. The power module market is estimated to grow also in relation to industrial equipment and renewable energy use. Against this backdrop, power modules are becoming increasingly compact and offering increasingly higher power density, and ceramic circuit boards, their key material, are required to provide even higher heat dissipation and reliability than before.

In response to these needs and trends, we have provided insulated circuit boards with high reliability up to now by making use of our strength in the technology for joining different materials such as metal and ceramic. Meanwhile, U-MAP has discovered that adding Thermalnite*, its proprietary material, can provide AlN ceramic substrates with unprecedentedly high thermal conductivity and high mechanical characteristics.

By combining these technologies owned by the two companies, we will aim to develop an "AlN ceramic circuit board" offering higher heat dissipation performance and reliability than the "Si₃N₄ ceramic circuit board," which is widely in use in the field of power modules. If practically applied, the circuit board is expected to make contributions to the achievement of a more compact and higher-power-density power module. In addition, improvement of heat dissipation will allow other components and materials used for power modules to be smaller, leading to cost reduction.

Outline drawing of power module

In our Medium-Term Management Strategy, we are actively promoting technology development incorporating cutting-edge technologies from Japan and overseas to promptly meet social needs including "next-generation vehicles, IoT/AI, clean energy, and recycling of urban-mine resources." This development of a new "AlN ceramic circuit board" is one of our specific measures, and we intend to create a new product and business by cooperating with U-MAP, an owner of high materials development technology.

The vision of the Mitsubishi Materials Group is to "become the leading business group committed to creating a sustainable world through materials innovation, with use of our unique and distinctive technologies" based on its corporate philosophy of "For People, Society and the Earth. "We will continue to contribute to the building of an affluent society by moving ahead with technology development while proactively adopting cutting-edge technologies from Japan and overseas.

* "Thermalnite" is a registered trademark of U-MAP Inc.

＜Contact details for inquiries＞
Public Relations Dept., Corporate Communication Dept.
+81-3-5252-5206