Semiconductor module

Kenji Hayashi, Kyoto (JP); Kohei Tanikawa, Kyoto (JP); Ryosuke Fukuda, Kyoto (JP)

USPTO: us-12622334 · published 2026-05-05 · patents · H01L 23/49575· H01L 23/3121· H01L 24/18· H01L 24/48· H01L 2224/48247· H01L 2924/182

Semiconductor module

Kohei Tanikawa, Kyoto (JP) , Kenji Hayashi, Kyoto (JP) , Ryosuke Fukuda, Kyoto (JP) This is my paper

Pith reviewed 2026-05-15 18:01 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification patents H01L 23/49575H01L 23/3121H01L 24/18H01L 24/48H01L 2224/48247H01L 2924/182

keywords semiconductor modulehalf-bridge circuitinput terminalsoutput terminalwiring substratesupporting substratepower electronics

0 comments

The pith

A half-bridge semiconductor module places three input terminals on one side of the power elements and output terminals on the opposite side.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The patent describes a module layout that stacks wiring substrates on metal plates bonded to an insulating support, with the upper-arm and lower-arm switches positioned between two groups of terminals. Three input terminals sit together on one lateral side while at least one output terminal sits on the far side, so that current paths through the half-bridge run in a straight front-to-back direction. This geometry is presented as the means to integrate the circuit while keeping the metal plates and wiring layers separate for each arm.

Core claim

The module comprises a supporting substrate with two metal layers, two metal-plate conductive portions, two semiconductor switches forming the half-bridge arms, two wiring substrates carrying patterned metal traces, and a terminal set in which a first input terminal is flanked by second and third input terminals on one side of the device while output terminals occupy the opposite side.

What carries the argument

The front-to-back terminal split across the half-bridge elements, with the three input terminals grouped on one side and the output terminal(s) on the other, carried by the two metal-plate conductive portions and the overlying patterned wiring substrates.

Load-bearing premise

The specific front-to-back terminal arrangement will produce the intended current paths and isolation without further electrical measurements or simulations.

What would settle it

A prototype built to the described dimensions that shows longer current-loop inductance or higher voltage overshoot than a conventional side-by-side terminal layout under the same switching test.

Figures

Figures reproduced from USPTO: patent/us-12622334 by Kenji Hayashi, Kyoto (JP), Kohei Tanikawa, Kyoto (JP), Ryosuke Fukuda, Kyoto (JP).

**Sheet 1.** Drawing sheet 1 from US 12622334. view at source ↗

**Sheet 2.** Drawing sheet 2 from US 12622334. view at source ↗

**Sheet 3.** Drawing sheet 3 from US 12622334. view at source ↗

**Sheet 4.** Drawing sheet 4 from US 12622334. view at source ↗

read the original abstract

1 . A semiconductor module provided with a half-bridge circuit, the semiconductor module comprising: a supporting substrate including a first insulating layer, a first metal layer and a second metal layer; a first conductive portion and a second conductive portion both bonded to the supporting substrate and made of a metal plate member; a first semiconductor element and a second semiconductor element constituting an upper arm circuit and a lower arm circuit, respectively, in the half-bridge circuit and both having a switching function; a first wiring substrate and a second wiring substrate each including a second insulating layer and a third metal layer formed on an upper surface of the second insulating layer, the third metal layer including a plurality of wiring portions spaced apart and insulated from each other, the first wiring substrate being disposed on the first conductive portion and electrically connected to the first semiconductor element, the second wiring substrate being disposed on the second conductive portion and electrically connected to the second semiconductor element; a first input terminal disposed on one side of a first direction perpendicular to a thickness direction relative to the first semiconductor element and the first conductive portion; a second input terminal and a third input terminal both disposed on the one side of the first direction relative to the first semiconductor element and the first conductive portion, the second input terminal and the third input terminal being opposite from each other with the first input terminal sandwiched therebetween in a second direction perpendicular to the thickness direction and the first direction; at least one output terminal disposed on another side of the first direction relative to the second sem

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Desk Editor's Note private letter to a colleague

Utility patent on a half-bridge module with sandwiched input terminals and dual wiring substrates; no measurements or simulations supplied.

read the letter

This filing describes a concrete half-bridge layout: supporting substrate with two metal layers, two conductive metal plates, upper and lower arm devices, two separate wiring substrates on top of those plates, and three input terminals lined up so the middle one sits between the outer pair, with the output terminal(s) on the far side. The geometry is spelled out in enough detail to be enabling for a patent claim. That specific terminal sandwich plus the split-substrate approach is a modest rearrangement not identical to the most common commercial modules I see. The description itself is clear and internally consistent on the mechanical and electrical connections. No performance data, inductance numbers, thermal maps, or even simulation results appear anywhere in the document. The benefit is simply asserted from the layout. Because nothing is quantified or compared, there is no way to judge whether the arrangement actually reduces stray inductance or improves anything else. This is a patent document, not a research paper, so it belongs in a prior-art search for power-module designers rather than in a journal or reading group. I would not send it to referees; it lacks any result that could be evaluated or reproduced.

Referee Report

0 major / 2 minor

Summary. The manuscript claims a semiconductor module implementing a half-bridge circuit via a supporting substrate with first and second metal layers, first and second metal-plate conductive portions, upper- and lower-arm semiconductor switching elements, two wiring substrates each carrying spaced third-metal-layer wiring portions, and a terminal layout in which three input terminals lie on one side of the first direction (with the second and third inputs flanking the first) while at least one output terminal lies on the opposite side.

Significance. If the described geometry is enabling, the arrangement supplies a concrete, manufacturable half-bridge power-module topology that places input and output terminals on opposing sides of the substrate stack; this configuration is potentially useful for compact inverter layouts, though the filing supplies no inductance, thermal, or comparative data to quantify any performance gain.

minor comments (2)

[Abstract] The abstract is truncated mid-sentence after 'the second sem'; the full claim language should be supplied in a revised version for completeness.
[Description] The description repeatedly refers to 'one side of the first direction' and 'another side' without an accompanying figure label or coordinate diagram; adding an explicit top-view schematic with labeled axes would improve clarity of the terminal placement.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

0 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for the careful reading of the manuscript and for the positive recommendation to accept. The report accurately captures the core geometric arrangement of the half-bridge module.

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No significant circularity

full rationale

The document is a utility patent whose sole content is a structural description of a half-bridge semiconductor module geometry (supporting substrate, metal plates, dual wiring substrates, and terminal placement). No equations, fitted parameters, predictions, or derivations appear anywhere in the text; the claim is the enablement of the physical arrangement itself. Consequently no step reduces to a self-definition, fitted input, or self-citation chain.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 0 axioms · 0 invented entities

The patent rests on standard semiconductor packaging assumptions (insulation integrity, thermal expansion matching, bond reliability) with no new free parameters, axioms, or invented physical entities.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.0 · 5628 in / 911 out tokens · 26331 ms · 2026-05-15T18:01:49.170045+00:00 · methodology

discussion (0)

Lean theorems connected to this paper

Citations machine-checked in the Pith Canon. Every link opens the source theorem in the public Lean library.

IndisputableMonolith.Foundation.RealityFromDistinction reality_from_one_distinction unclear

?

unclear
Relation between the paper passage and the cited Recognition theorem.

A semiconductor module provided with a half-bridge circuit, the semiconductor module comprising: a supporting substrate including a first insulating layer, a first metal layer and a second metal layer; a first conductive portion and a second conductive portion both bonded to the supporting substrate and made of a metal plate member; a first semiconductor element and a second semiconductor element constituting an upper arm circuit and a lower arm circuit, respectively, in the half-bridge circuit and both having a switching function; a first wiring substrate and a second wiring substrate each...

What do these tags mean?

matches: The paper's claim is directly supported by a theorem in the formal canon.
supports: The theorem supports part of the paper's argument, but the paper may add assumptions or extra steps.
extends: The paper goes beyond the formal theorem; the theorem is a base layer rather than the whole result.
uses: The paper appears to rely on the theorem as machinery.
contradicts: The paper's claim conflicts with a theorem or certificate in the canon.
unclear: Pith found a possible connection, but the passage is too broad, indirect, or ambiguous to say the theorem truly supports the claim.