This thesis presents the results of research into the performance of advanced polymer dielectrics for the realization of high-power electronic circuits in a miniature form. These polymeric materials must satisfy a number of critical thermal, environmental, and electrical requirements to meet the required performance criteria for microelectronics applications. These desired attributes include thermal stability, low moisture uptake, high breakdown voltage (low leakage current), low dielectric constant, low loss tangent, high glass transition temperature, and low surface roughness. The use of these polymers allows for advanced electronic packaging techniques, resulting in improved system performance and reliability.

Research was performed using a commercially available polymer dielectric and evaluated the feasibility of utilizing these materials as interlayer dielectrics in multilayer power electronic circuits. Historically, efforts to develop advanced interlayer dielectric materials have concentrated on promoting their use in high speed digital circuits. However, dielectrics used in power electronics must meet requirements not commonly stressed in designs for digital circuits. Multilayer circuits used in power electronics place a particular emphasis on the material properties of high dielectric strength or breakdown voltage and small values for loss tangent or dissipation factor. The focus of this research has been to characterize these particular properties for a commercially available polymer dielectric.