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IDTechEx Discusses Ag Sintering and Cu Sintering

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BOSTON, June 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Thermal management for EV power electronics has long posed significant challenges. The ongoing shift from Si IGBT and SiC MOSFET to potentially GaN HEMT in the future results in higher junction temperatures and increased demand for die-attach materials in EV power modules. In traditional Si IGBT power modules, die-attach materials like Pb95Sn5 and Pb92.5Sn5Ag2.5 struggle to meet reliability requirements for packaging power devices in high-temperature applications due to creep-fatigue concerns. Additionally, substrate-attach materials such as Sn96.5Ag3Cu0.5, with lower melting temperatures than solder used for die attachment, further constrain the reliability of SiC power modules for high-temperature applications. These challenges drive the market toward silver sinter materials, with the potential to extend to copper sinter materials, offering cost reductions.

Despite cost advantages, the IDTechEx report “Thermal Management for EV Power Electronics 2024-2034: Forecasts, Technologies, Markets, and Trends” identifies barriers hindering the widespread commercialization of copper sintering, such as challenging manufacturing environments due to copper oxidation and comparable or even higher costs than silver sintering as of early 2024 due to smaller commercialization scales.

Conventional die-attach and substrate-attach materials typically consist of solder alloys, featuring bondline thicknesses ranging from 50 to 100µm for die attachment and 100 to 150µm for substrate attachment. Despite their satisfactory performance, IDTechEx observes a growing preference for Ag sintering, driven by major automotive OEMs like Tesla, BYD, and Hyundai. Compared to traditional solder alloys, Ag sintering offers higher thermal conductivity (between 200 and 300W/mK), potentially reducing thermal resistance from junction to case by over 40%, along with significantly higher melting points and decreased electrical resistivity.

With the adoption of SiC MOSFETs, IDTechEx forecasts that Ag sintering will capture nearly or over 50% market share in regions like China in the near future, presenting significant market opportunities for thermal material suppliers.

Much of the available sintered Ag on the market requires pressure during sintering to enhance bond characteristics and reduce porosity, significantly reducing sintering time. However, this approach has drawbacks, including decreased yield and efficiency for bonding multiple chips, especially with complex architecture. Further, it also requires additional steps and machines, leading to higher costs. Therefore, manufacturers tend to avoid this and wait for solutions that are easy to implement in their already existing infrastructure: pressure-less sintering. Pressure-less sintering offers lower cost barriers and benefits in sinter-bonding multiple chips but is reliable only for surfaces with areas between 4 and 25mm2. More details about the pressure-less sintering process are included in IDTechEx’s report, ‘Thermal Management for EV Power Electronics 2024-2034: Forecasts, Technologies, Markets, and Trends’.

The cost of Ag sintering can vary significantly based on factors like customer relationships, order volumes, and suppliers. Ag sintered paste costs can easily be five to ten times higher than solder alloys. For instance, IDTechEx learned of an Ag sintered paste developed by a Japanese company costing around US$2-3/g, though this price has the potential to decrease significantly with increased volume and other material properties. Another supplier suggests that its sintered silver paste costs around US$1,400/kg. Overall, driven by leading automotive players, there is a discernible trend toward replacing solder alloys with Ag sintering pastes, creating market opportunities for material suppliers.

Cu sintering is proposed as an alternative approach to address the cost factor. Compared to Ag sintering, Cu sintering aims to offer similar performance at a lower cost. A supplier informed IDTechEx that Cu sintering technology can cost as little as half as much as Ag sintering technology. However, oxidation remains a significant challenge for Cu sintering. Therefore, a combination of a controlled atmosphere and reducing solvent/binders is the focus on the production of reliable materials. Cu sintering pastes have pressure and pessure-less variants under N2 or H2. However, this presents challenges during processing, leading to concerns around reliability.

IDTechEx is not aware of any automaker using Cu sintered materials as of early 2024, but given the historic timeline for Ag sintering adoption, IDTechEx forecasts that the large-scale commercialization will happen within five years and potentially as soon as late 2024 or early 2025.

IDTechEx’s ‘Thermal Management for EV Power Electronics 2024-2034’ provides a comprehensive overview of Ag and Cu sintering technologies market opportunities, competitive landscapes, supply chains, and key players in the substrate-attach and die-attach sectors. To find out more about this report, including downloadable sample pages, please see www.IDTechEx.com/TMPE.

IDTechEx has also published a report on thermal interface materials, which includes details on die-attach and TIM2s for other emerging applications, including advanced driver-assisted systems (ADAS), 5G, data center semiconductors, EV batteries, and consumer electronics. To find out more about this report, including downloadable sample pages, please see www.IDTechEx.com/TIM.

For the full portfolio of thermal management market research from IDTechEx, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research/Thermal.

About IDTechEx:

IDTechEx provides trusted independent research on emerging technologies and their markets. Since 1999, we have been helping our clients to understand new technologies, their supply chains, market requirements, opportunities and forecasts. For more information, contact research@IDTechEx.com or visit www.IDTechEx.com.

Media Contact:
Lucy Rogers
Sales and Marketing Administrator
press@IDTechEx.com
+44(0)1223 812300

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LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/IDTechEx

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FULTON FINANCIAL CORPORATION APPOINTS DAVID S. SCHULZ TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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LANCASTER, Pa., July 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: FULT) (“Fulton”) today announced the appointment of David S. Schulz as a member of its board of directors (the “Board”) for a term commencing September 14, 2026 and expiring at Fulton’s 2027 annual meeting of shareholders.

“We’re excited to welcome Dave to Fulton’s board of directors,” said Curt Myers, Fulton Chairman, CEO, and President. “Dave brings extensive financial leadership experience gained through more than a decade of service with publicly traded companies. His expertise in finance, strategic planning, risk, and mergers and acquisitions will provide valuable perspective as we continue to execute our growth strategy and create long-term value for our shareholders, customers and communities.”

With the addition of Schulz, Fulton’s Board will have 11 members, and he will serve on the Audit and Risk committees. Schulz has also been appointed to the board of directors of Fulton’s banking subsidiary, Fulton Bank, N.A.

Schulz served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Wesco International, Inc. (“Wesco”) from 2016 to June 2020, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Wesco from June 2020 to February 2026 and as Executive Vice President and Special Advisor to the CEO of Wesco from February 2026 until his retirement on May 31, 2026. 

Prior to joining Wesco, Schulz served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Armstrong Flooring, Inc. and was previously Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Armstrong World Industries, Inc. and Vice President of Finance of the Armstrong Building Products division.

Before joining Armstrong World Industries in 2011, he held various financial leadership roles with Procter & Gamble and The J.M. Smucker Company. He was also an officer in the United States Marine Corps.

In 2025, Schulz joined the board of Sterling Infrastructure, Inc., and he was appointed as chair of the audit committee in 2026. He also serves on the company’s compensation and talent development committee.

ABOUT FULTON FINANCIAL CORPORATION

Fulton, a $34 billion Lancaster, Pa.-based financial holding company, has more than 3,400 employees and operates more than 215 financial centers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia through Fulton Bank, N.A. Additional information on Fulton can be found at https://investor.fultonbank.com.

Contact: Steve Trapnell
717-291-2739

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SOURCE Fulton Financial Corporation

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Octavio Marquez Elected to MSA Safety Board of Directors

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PITTSBURGH, July 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Board of Directors of MSA Safety Inc. (NYSE: MSA), a global leader in the development of advanced industrial safety technology products and solutions, today announced that Octavio Marquez, president and chief executive officer of Diebold Nixdorf, has been elected to the company’s Board of Directors. His election was part of the MSA Board’s regular succession plans.

“We are very pleased to have the opportunity to add Octavio to the MSA Board,” said Robert A. Bruggeworth, MSA chairman. “He brings a broad range of executive leadership experience, including strategy development, capital allocation, business transformation and serving international markets, which will serve MSA well.”

“Octavio’s perspectives will be an asset to me and our entire Executive Leadership Team,” said Steven C. Blanco, MSA president and CEO. “It is a pleasure to welcome Octavio to MSA, and I look forward to working with him.”

Mr. Marquez joined Diebold Nixdorf in 2014 and has held senior leadership roles across the company’s Global Banking organization and its Americas region, including as executive vice president of Global Banking and senior vice president of the Americas. Before joining Diebold Nixdorf, Mr. Marquez held leadership positions at Dell EMC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM and NCR.

Diebold Nixdorf automates, digitizes and transforms the way people bank and shop. As a partner to the majority of the world’s top 100 financial institutions and top 25 global retailers, its integrated solutions connect digital and physical channels conveniently, securely and efficiently for millions of customers every day. Headquartered in North Canton, Ohio, Diebold Nixdorf employs approximately 20,000 employees globally, supporting more than 100 countries.

Mr. Marquez holds a degree in business and finance from Universidad Iberoamericana and has completed executive education programs at MIT Sloan, The Wharton School and The University of Texas at Austin.

About MSA Safety

MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE: MSA) is the global leader in advanced industrial safety technology products and solutions. Driven by its singular mission of safety, the company has been at the forefront of safety innovation since 1914, protecting workers and facility infrastructure around the world across a broad range of diverse end markets while creating sustainable value for shareholders. With 2025 revenues of $1.9 billion, MSA Safety is headquartered in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, and employs a team of approximately 5,300 associates across its more than 40 international locations. For more information, please visit www.MSASafety.com.

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SOURCE MSA Safety

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BlueFolder Field Service Software Launches New AI-Powered Features to Transform How Teams Work

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New AI capabilities instantly surface customer insights and transform technician notes into actionable summaries to help field service teams work faster, stay aligned, and deliver better service

AUBURN, Ala., July 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — BlueFolder field service software recently announced the launch of two powerful new AI features: AI-Powered Customer Summaries and AI-Powered Field Notes Summarization. Together, these capabilities are designed to eliminate the time-consuming, manual work of reviewing fragmented customer records and lengthy technician notes—giving field service teams instant clarity to respond faster, make smarter decisions, and deliver exceptional service.

BlueFolder expands it’s field service and work order management suite with two exciting new AI field service features.

Built directly into the BlueFolder platform, both features leverage artificial intelligence to automatically compile and summarize complex, unstructured data into clear, easy-to-read overviews. The result: technicians, dispatchers, and managers always have the context they need, right when they need it.

AI-Powered Customer Summaries

As field service organizations grow, customer information becomes increasingly scattered across emails, service request logs, and communication histories. BlueFolder’s AI Customer Summary feature addresses this challenge head-on by consolidating those interactions into a single, actionable snapshot.

Instead of manually digging through multiple records before a service call or customer interaction, teams can now access a real-time summary highlighting key concerns, past service activity, and recent updates. The feature goes beyond basic summarization and surfaces critical business insights such as equipment past due for maintenance, approaching warranty expirations, and proactive revenue opportunities, empowering teams to recommend follow-ups or upgrades directly from the customer record.

Built-in traceability links each summary back to its original source communications, so users can validate insights with confidence, ensuring both speed and accuracy in every customer interaction.

AI-Powered Field Notes Summarization

In many service organizations, technicians log updates across multiple visits, often resulting in long, fragmented notes that are difficult to review at a glance. BlueFolder’s AI Field Notes Summarization feature solves this by automatically condensing multiple technician entries into a structured summary that highlights key milestones, actions taken, and next steps.

Rather than scrolling through pages of updates, managers and dispatchers can immediately understand job status and determine what needs to happen next, improving alignment between field and office teams, accelerating decision-making, and reducing miscommunication. The feature is especially valuable for complex or multi-day jobs, where clear continuity and smooth technician handoffs are critical to delivering consistent service. It’s another featuring making BlueFolder’s work order management software capabilities stronger every day.

“History is one of the most powerful tools a service team has — the problem is it’s usually buried. BlueFolder’s new AI features fix that. Your team walks into every interaction already knowing the customer, knowing the equipment, and exactly where things stand. That changes the entire experience,” says John Shaw, VP, Technology, Service Operations.

AI as a Core Part of the BlueFolder Platform

The launch of these two features reflects BlueFolder’s broader commitment to embedding AI throughout its field service management software as an integrated layer of intelligence that makes every workflow smarter. Rather than requiring teams to change how they work, BlueFolder’s AI capabilities are designed to surface the right information at the right moment automatically, within the tools that technicians, dispatchers, and managers already use every day.

“AI is transforming what’s possible in field service, and BlueFolder is answering that call. These features are the result of deep platform expertise and a clear vision for where the industry is headed. We’re embedding intelligence throughout the platform because we know it makes our customers more competitive, more efficient, and better positioned to grow,” says Stephen Myslicki, Group President of Field Services.

Availability

Both AI-Powered Customer Summaries and AI-Powered Field Notes Summarization are available now to BlueFolder customers as optional, easy-to-enable features within the platform. They are part of BlueFolder’s growing suite of AI-driven capabilities designed to help field service organizations operate more efficiently and scale with confidence.

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SOURCE BlueFolder

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