Silver-to-silver bonded IC package having two ceramic substrates exposed on the outside of the package

A packaged power device involves no soft solder and no wire bonds. The direct-bonded metal layers of two direct metal bonded ceramic substrate assemblies, such as Direct Bonded Aluminum (DBA) substrates, are provided with sintered silver pads. Silver nanoparticle paste is applied to pads on the frontside of a die and the paste is sintered to form silver pads. Silver formed by an evaporative process covers the backside of the die. The die is pressed between the two DBAs such that direct silver-to-silver bonds are formed between sintered silver pads on the frontside of the die and corresponding sintered silver pads of one of the DBAs, and such that a direct silver-to-silver bond is formed between the backside silver of the die and a sintered silver pad of the other DBA. After leadforming, leadtrimming and encapsulation, the finished device has exposed ceramic of both DBAs on outside package surfaces.