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In this paper, benchmark of Si IGBT, SiC MOSFET, and Gallium nitride (GaN) HEMT power switches at 600-V class is conducted in single-phase T-type inverter. Gate driver requirements, switching performance, inverter efficiency performance, heat sink volume, output filter volume, and dead-time effect for each technology is evaluated. Gate driver study shows that GaN has the lowest gate driver losses above 100 kHz and below 100 kHz, SiC has lowest gate losses. GaN has the best switching performance among three technologies that allows high efficiency at high-frequency applications. GaN-based inverter operated at 160-kHz switching frequency with 97.3% efficiency at 2.5-kW output power. Performance of three device technologies at different temperature, switching frequency, and load conditions shows that heat sink volume of the converter can be reduced by 2.5 times by switching from Si to GaN solution at 60 ^\circ C case temperature, and for SiC and GaN, heat sink volume can be reduced by 2.36 and 4.92 times, respectively, by increasing heat sink temperature to 100 ^\circ C. Output filter volume can be reduced by 43% with 24, 26, and 61 W increase in device power loss for GaN-, SiC-, and Si-based converters, respectively. WBG devices allow reduction of harmonic distortion at output current from 3.5% to 1.5% at 100 kHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an advanced dynamic cooling strategy for multi-layer structured power electronic modules. An observer based feedback controller is proposed to reduce a power device or module's thermal cycle amplitude during operation, with the aim of improving reliability and lifetime. The full-state observer design is based on a developed Cauer type thermal model. The observer enables estimation and control of the temperature at reliability critical locations only measuring one accessible location. This makes the method particularly powerful and suitable for application in power systems. The designed strategy is confirmed experimentally. Although the experiment is developed for a specific application scenario, the proposed strategy is of general validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the commercial availability of SiC power devices, their acceptance is expected to grow in consideration of the excellent low switching loss, high-temperature operation, and high-voltage rating capabilities of these devices. This paper presents the comparative performance evaluation of different SiC power devices in the matrix converter at various temperatures and switching frequencies. To this end, first, gate or base drive circuits for normally-off SiC JFET, SiC MOSFET, and SiC BJT by taking into account the special demands for these devices are presented. Then, four two-phase to one-phase matrix converters are built with different Si and SiC power devices to measure the switching waveforms and power losses for them at different temperatures and switching frequencies. Based on the measured data, four different SiC and Si power devices are compared in terms of switching times, conduction and switching losses, and efficiency at different temperatures and switching frequencies. Furthermore, a theoretical investigation of the power losses of the three-phase matrix converter with normally-off SiC JFET, SiC MOSFET, SiC BJT, and Si IGBT is described. The power losses estimation indicates that a 7-kW matrix converter would potentially have an efficiency of approximately 94% in high switching frequency if equipped with SiC devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual prototyping of power electronic modules aims to allow rapid evaluation of potential designs without the need to resort to building and testing physical prototypes. A key requirement for this process is the ability to quickly generate small, compact models describing the thermal performance of a potential design and this study presents a novel approach for this model generation process. The approach starts with a finite-difference mesh of the proposed design and applies a fast sparse matrix solver (GMRES) to determine the steady-state response to a particular power input. In doing this, approximations for the eigenvalues of the system can also be obtained from the same algorithm. It is shown that these two results can then be used to create small compact models describing the dynamic thermal properties within the design. The method is validated against an analytical solution for 1-D heat conduction and against experimental results for a simple power module. This process can be automated and it is shown that compact models can be generated in around 12 s per power input from the finite-difference mesh of the power module containing 14 623 nodes on a standard desktop PC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes the model development of a packaged semiconductor power module, for use in a circuit simulation environment. Focusing on railway traction applications, it considers a state-of-the-art 6.5 kV insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) module, taking into account the antiparallel connection of IGBTs and free-wheeling diodes, and including all main electrothermal and electromagnetic effects associated with the multi-chip structure. The description of semiconductor physics is coupled with self-heating effects; electromagnetic phenomena associated with the packaging, layout, and interconnections are also taken into account. To optimize the compromise between accuracy and computational effort, the device models are based on a mixed physical and behavioral description, and are scalable to be representative of a desired number of parallel devices and to allow for the introduction of parasitic elements, as required. Electromagnetic effects are modeled by means of equivalent lumped elements, extracted by numerical simulation of an accurate 3-D structural assembly model. The description of transient thermal phenomena relies on a finite-difference approach that considers the use of both essentially 1-D lumped equivalent models and fully 3-D distributed description. The model is validated statically and dynamically, against both data-sheet information and measurements; a selection of simulation examples demonstrates its usefulness and versatility. Although developed for a specific application scenario, the proposed approach is of general validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To satisfy the design and optimization needs of increasing power device structural and functional integration, novel simulation approaches need to be considered. In particular, the availability of a unified platform enabling multi-physical-domain analysis and multi-level abstraction is paramount to ensure sufficient flexibility and provide the required insight. Based on VHDL-AMS, this work presents the model development for two integrated power devices, conceived for operation under quite diverse bias conditions and thus exhibiting different criticalities. Simulation results are checked against experimental data to demonstrate the usefulness of the description method considered. The proposed models can be usefully employed in a broad range of investigations, ranging from development activities to reliability investigation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper analyzes the operation of PowerMOSFETs in the 42-V-PowerNet and shows that very stressful conditions are encountered, which can lead to severe reliability problems. To enable thorough investigations by circuit simulations an accurate physics-based compact model of the devices is proposed: it includes all important electrothermal effects relevant to the description of the observed failure mechanisms. By means of an advanced thermal-modeling approach, multichip assemblies can be accurately described, including mutual heating effects between neighboring devices. Some properly chosen examples demonstrate the validity of the model and its usefulness for reliability investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An experimental infrared method for the thermal characterisation of semiconductor devices during fast transient operation, in the range from a few microseconds and up to some milliseconds, is presented. The features which make it suitable and convenient, particularly for use with power electronics applications are pointed out; its time and space resolution are illustrated by means of properly chosen examples. The considered solution qualifies as a very versatile and powerful tool in many diverse lines of investigation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]