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Purpose This paper aims to improve the general circuit of driving and protection based on insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) in dielectric barrier discharge power supply by designing a novel half-bridge inverter circuit with discrete components. Design/methodology/approach With one SG3524 chip, the structure based on discrete components is used to design the IGBT drive circuit. The driving waveform is isolated and sent out by photo-coupler 6N137. The protection circuit is realized by Hall sensor directly detecting the main circuit current, supplemented by a few components, including diodes, resistors, capacitors and triodes. It improves the reliability of the protection circuit. Findings In the driving circuit, the phase difference of signals from two channels are 180°. Moreover, when the duty cycle is set at 40%, it can ensure sufficient pulse width modulation response time. In the protection circuit, when over-current occurs, an intermittent output signal is automatically sent out. Furthermore, the over-current response time can be controlled independently. The peak voltage can be adjusted continuously from 0 to 30 kV with its frequency from 8 to 25 kHz and the power output up to 150 W. Originality/value The novel circuit of driving and protection makes not only its structure simpler and easier to be realized but also key parameters, such as frequency, the duty cycle and the driving voltage, continuously adjustable. Moreover, the power supply is suitable for other discharges such as corona discharge and jet discharge.

This paper presents an improved stator voltage magnitude and frequency control for standalone doubly fed induction generators (DFIGs) based wind power generation systems (WPGSs). The proposed technique uses a simple finite-state predictive current control (FS-PCC). In this control method, the switching vector for the IGBT is selected to minimize the error between the reference value and the predicted value of the rotor current. Moreover, the discrete-time models of (DFIG) are needed to predict the future value of the rotor current for all possible voltage vectors generated by the rotor-side converter (RSC). Since the classic control methods in the literature use inner control loops and are based on pulse width modulation (PWM), this method does not require complex modulation stages and omits the current control loops, which reduces the control requirements. The main objective in a standalone DFIG system is to keep the stator voltage has constant in amplitude and frequency and equal to the reference value, regardless of the changes in rotor speed or load. The proposed control strategy was implemented through a 3 kW DFIG prototype platform-based dSPACE 1104 card. The simulation and experimental results show that the proposed FS-PCC offers excellent reference tracking with less total harmonic distortion (THD) in stator voltages and rotor currents.

This novel Comprehensive Converter (CC) proposes multiple power conversion approach for step-up and step-down processes in AC-DC, DC-DC, AC-AC and DC-AC conversions. This versatile converter is designed by using power electronics switches, for AC-DC & AC-AC conversions thyristors are preferred, whereas DC-DC & DC-AC operations require both turn-On and turn-Off control so transistors (IGBT) is the most suitable switch. Conversion in all the stages can be controlled by a digital controller according to the requirement. All four conversions can perform step-up as well as step-down process, so design of inductor and capacitor values are very much important. All four modes of operations 4 thyristor based transistors and two diode based transistors are used to ensure switching operations. Novelty of the research work is conversion of power in all the modes can be bidirectional and also in single stage process, but in the existing systems of power conversions is an unidirectional process. Proposed single stage power conversion has more efficiency because of low switching losses. This proposed converter was designed by using mathematical analysis, tested at simulation level and verified in the real time experiment.

A new method is proposed for the measurement of the junction temperature of insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) during operation. The application of this method overcomes the problems arising from the complexity of measurement circuits or the difficulty of tests. The proposed measurement method uses the turn-on Miller plateau duration (tmon), i.e., the duration from the first rising edge to the second rising edge of the gate–emitter voltage, of an IGBT. The obtained results show that tmon is strongly linear with respect to temperature. For comparison, the temperature-sensitive electrical parameters (TSEPs) turn-off Miller plateau duration (i.e., the duration between the two falling edges of the Vge-off curve) were also measured. The obtained results show that tmon exhibits a high sensitivity that permits accurate determination of the junction temperatures of IGBTs.

The transient dual interface method (TDIM), proposed by the JEDEC 51-14 standard [1] , determines the junction-to-case thermal resistance of power electronics with the separate point of two transient thermal impedance curves under different contact conditions. However, the influence of the junction temperature is not considered and this underestimates the actual value with earlier separation point. This phenomenon is presented first with experimental results at different junction temperatures. Electro-thermal finite element simulations and simulation with semiconductor physical behavior in the devices simulations are performed to explain the root reason. After that, the improved TDIM with the junction temperature compensation is proposed to improve the accuracy. The experimental results show that the improved TDIM improves the accuracy of about 9.5% for 600-V discrete IGBT devices.

The performance of inverters strongly depends on the characteristics of the employed semiconductor devices. Bound to a tradeoff between conduction- and switching-optimization, these devices require a decision for the optimal loss balance. In this work, a new medium-voltage semiconductor device consisting of both thyristor-based and transistor-based components is proposed. The goal is reduction of losses in both conduction and switching domain. The circuitry and switching pattern is described and the improvement of overall losses is investigated by finite element method-simulation to give an theoretical outlook on the benefits of the device. A selection of parameters is adapted to analyze the impact on the performance. It is shown that the overall losses can be significantly reduced by combining a gate-commutated thyristor (GCT) with an insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) [1] while keeping the silicon area constant, in comparison to a GCT-only device. The work is concluded by characterization results of a constructed prototype, which confirm the simulation results that significant efficiency benefits can be achieved by introducing a turn- off delay between the GCT and IGBT.

Bond wire degradation is one of the most common failure modes for wire-welded packaging insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules. This article proposes a novel bond wire detection method based on IGBT turn- on gate voltage overshoot. The degree of bond wires lift-off will change the stray inductance of the gate charge loop circuit, and therefore has a strong influence on turn- on gate voltage overshoot before miller platform, which can be used as an effective bond wire fault indicator. A double pulse test platform is built to verify the resolution and sensitivity of the proposed precursor for bond wire degradation. The dependences on bus voltages, load currents, junction temperatures are discussed and tested. The experimental results show that the gate turn- on voltage overshoot of IGBT increases with the increasing severity of bond wire faults, which agrees with the theoretical analysis. The proposed turn- on gate voltage overshoot-based method has a high sensitivity for identifying bond wire fault at the incipient stage. It offers an effective technique for detecting bond wire degradation for practical applications.

The Fourier-series-based insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) model has been very effective in simulating its switching behaviors and meanwhile, reflecting carrier dynamics. However, in turn-on process, such a model has difficulty in distinguishing the boundary between undepleted area and depletion layer of the drift region due to Gibbs phenomenon and therefore, cannot accurately describe the carrier behavior of carrier storage region (CSR). In this study, the Fourier-series-based model is modified to determine the more precise depletion layer edge for turn on. This is achieved by utilizing the actual characteristics of the carrier concentration gradient at the edge of CSR in turn-on process. Such a modified model is implemented in MATLAB/Simulink and it can better reflect the depletion layer and simulate the distribution of both the carrier concentration and electric field during turn-on process. It corrects the unreasonable voltage tail caused by the error of drift region voltage calculation in previous models. The results of the proposed model under both the resistive load and inductive load are in good agreement with TCAD. Such a modified model can more accurately simulate both carrier dynamics and switching behaviors in the turn-on process.

The insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) module that is sensitive to high temperature has been identified as one of the most fragile parts in electric vehicles. In this article, a new adaptive electrothermal model that is independent of solder aging is proposed to acquire junction temperature in real time for the health management of IGBTs. Compared with the traditional adaptive electrothermal model, the proposed model can update the parameters of thermal resistance and thermal capacitance simultaneously to adapt to the solder aging conditions. Besides, the update process just relies on the measured case temperatures, which is cost-effective and is not affected by the degradation of bond wires and gate oxide. Simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Under the test conditions, the estimated errors of the junction temperature by the proposed model are reduced by about 60% compared with the traditional model.

Thermal analysis of data centers is in urgent need to ensure that computer chips remain below the critical temperature while the energy consumption for cooling can be reduced. It is difficult to obtain detailed hotspot locations and temperatures of chips in large data centers containing hundreds of racks or more by direct measurement. In this paper, a multi-scale thermal analysis method is proposed that can predict the temperature distribution of chips and solder balls in data centers. The multi-scale model is divided into six scales: room, rack, server, Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT), chip and solder ball. A concept of sub-model is proposed and the six levels are organized into four simulation sub-models. Sub-model 1 contains Room, Rack and Server (RRS); Sub-model 2 contains Server and IGBT (SI); Sub-model 3 contains IGBT and Chip (IC), and Sub-model 4 contains Chip and Solder-ball (CS). These four sub-models are one-way coupled by transmitting their results as boundary conditions between levels. The full-field simulation method is employed to verify the efficiency and accuracy of multi-scale simulation method for a single-rack data center. The two simulation results show that the highest temperature emerges in the same location. The Single-rack Full-field Model (SRFFM) costs 2.5 times more computational time than that with Single-rack Multi-scale Model (SRMSM). The deviation of the highest temperature of chips and solder balls are 1.57°C and 0.2°C between the two models which indicates that the multi-scale simulation method has good prospect in the data center thermal simulation. Finally, the multi-scale thermal analysis method is applied to a ship data center with 15 racks.

The credibility and the capability of electro‐magnetic transient‐type solvers in providing all the required information are heavily dependent on the modeling of power semiconductor switches that are fundamental in the construction of all power electronic apparatus. Categorized according to the complexity, seven types of computational models for the power converters have been identified, which are full physics‐based models, full detailed models, simplified switchable resistances, detailed equivalent circuit models, average value models based on switching functions, simplified average value models, and RMS load‐flow models. This chapter introduces three models belonging to Type 1 for hardware‐in‐the‐loop (HIL) simulation on the field programmable gate array, in addition to the mainstream Types 3 and 4 models employed in computing the DC grid. Different from the nonlinear behavioral model which sketches the insulated gate bipolar transistor/diode characteristics from a macro perspective, the physics‐based model involves a lot semiconductor physics and therefore poses a higher computational challenge to the HIL simulation.

This chapter presents the modeling and hardware implementation of two prevalent DC circuit breakers, the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)‐based hybrid HVDC breaker (HHB) and the ultra‐fast mechatronic circuit breaker employing thyristors. Circuit dimension reduction is applied to alleviate the computational burden so as to attain real‐time implementation for hardware‐in‐the‐loop testing of the multiterminal DC grid. The design theory and operation principle of HHB have been illustrated in detail under the assumption that all IGBTs in the main breaker chain are synchronized, which is reasonable and also implies that all internal nodes are well balanced. The heat induced by IGBT power loss will raise the junction temperature which in turn affects the HHB performance. A corresponding finite state machine is designed to coordinate those modules since the involvement of nonlinear elements forces the adoption of Newton–Raphson iteration. The device‐merging method was also tested in modeling the ultrafast mechatronic circuit breaker.

The modular DC solid-state transformer (DC-SST) is promising but restricted by limited reliability, which can be solved by redundancy. However, current redundancy designs are only based on the reliability evaluation in stable operation condition and seldom efficiency. In this paper, a redundancy design method of DC-SST is proposed considering both reliability and efficiency. The long-term mission profile and aging of power semiconductor devices (PSDs) and capacitors are considered in the reliability evaluation. Based on the result that the capacitor reliability dominates the system reliability, a simplified system reliability model is proposed. Besides, IGBT power loss considering the long-term mission profile is obtained, which dominates the system power loss. Finally, a multi-objective optimization is solved to obtain the optimal redundant number. Feasibility of the proposed method is verified by a prototype.

In this paper, a novel control strategy of current source converter (CSC) is proposed for doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) wind energy conversion system (WECS). Most of the studies on wind forms are based on voltage source converter, nevertheless, with the development of semiconductor technology and high switching frequency reverse block insulated gate bipolar transistor (RB-IGBT) devices being used in CSCs, the shortcomings of conventional CSCs including low switching frequency, large passive devices and slow dynamic performance can be overcome. Furthermore, WECS based on CSCs has various advantages, such like robustness, inherent short-circuit protection, fault ride through capability and so on. To implement the CSCs in DFIG wind energy conversion system, this paper analyzes the system configuration, operation principles, modulation strategy and control strategy. In addition, a novel control strategy based on DC-Link current optimal control is proposed. The simulation and prototype experiments verily the validity of system configuration and control strategy.

In conventional high-voltage power supplies used for driving the microwave tubes, the shunt crowbar, which generally consists of series-connected thyristors, protects the microwave tube against the vacuum arc fault. In the case of arc fault, the thyristor-based crowbar is closed as a parallel path and diverts the fault current through itself. It avoids serious damage to the microwave tube. However, thyristor switches usually have a limited rate of rise of ON-state current ( di / dt ), which necessitates placing a series inductor in the crowbar path. Thus, satisfying all protection limits of microwave tubes—including the injected fault energy and the fault current interruption time—is a challenging task for the thyristor-based crowbar. In this article, an insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)-based crowbar is employed to overcome this problem. Taking the advantages of IGBT switches, the proposed crowbar satisfies all the protection limits of the microwave tubes. Theoretical analysis, simulation studies, and experimental tests are utilized to compare the crowbar performance in the presence of the conventional crowbar and the IGBT-based crowbar.

With the development of power electronics technology, power modules delivery considerably greater power density, which makes junction temperature an important parameter for reliable operation. Existing thermal models often ignore the influence of the thermal boundary conditions on the thermal parameter and cannot accurately predict junction temperature in various operating conditions. This article proposes a three-dimensional compact thermal network model that considers the thermal boundary conditions and can be obtained by the finite-element method (FEM). A novel two-step method for thermal parameter extraction is presented and the effects of boundary conditions on thermal network parameters are discussed in detail. The experimental results and FEM simulation show that the proposed thermal network model can accurately estimate the junction temperature in different thermal boundary conditions.

Vacuum tubes such as gyrotrons and magnetrons require a specific range of high-voltage pulse rise time for their proper operation. Otherwise, unavoidable operation modes or even arcs may take place in the vacuum tubes. Hence, the capability of the adjustable output pulse rise time is very promising for pulsed power supplies when they are dedicated to vacuum tubes. This article proposes a high-voltage series stacked insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) switch with rise time adjusting capability to evolve the pulsed power supply abilities. The rise time adjustment is carried out using a low-voltage ramped shape signal provided for all the IGBTs via a multi-winding transformer. In this way, the IGBTs are turned on as fast as possible with specific delays. The sequential turn on process of the IGBTs forms the output pulse rising edge. Unlike the extant strategies for controlling the turn on speed of the IGBTs, the dissipated power of the proposed method is negligible. The power associated with adjusting the output pulse rise time is recovered to the pulsed power supply using a simple and low-voltage dc/dc converter. The proper performance of the proposed structure is evaluated using simulations and experimental prototyping.

Solar energy is abundantly available energy for the generation of heat, and one the best appliances used for this purpose is Induction heaters. For the heat generation application, the combination of solar energy with the induction heat generation technique is the productive solution. Due to high efficiency and high-power density, resonant converters with soft switching are commonly utilized in domestic induction heating applications. For induction heating applications, a low profile and an improved efficiency resonant inverter design and implementation procedure are presented. Reducing conduction losses by using automotive-grade MOSFET devices against the classical IGBT-based converter. Conversion efficiency can be increased by decreasing switching losses which can be done by reducing switching times of MOSFET devices. Heating the metallic pan with circulating eddy currents induced by a high-frequency AC magnetic field is the principle of the induction cooker. If the load has an electrically conducting base, then the coil within the induction cooker and the load (pan/pot) acts as a transformer. The power will be transferred with high efficiency if the conducting base is ferromagnetic. An efficient control scheme incorporated in class E resonance heating by using solar power is presented. The simulation analysis is done in MATLAB-SIMULINK. Index Terms: induction heating, solar energy, class E resonant converter, MOSFET, MATLAB-SIMULINK

The modular multilevel converter (MMC or M2C) technology becomes the mainstream solution in today's voltage source converter-high voltage direct current (VSC-HVDC) transmission lines because of its unique performance. Recently press pack IGBT (PPI) has come into focus as a preferred realization for high power rating VSC-HVDC stations, it could offer the highest current rating IGBTs and advanced features in reliability. A new PPI is introduced in this paper, which is designed for several innovative improvements based on the application demands from VSC-HVDC systems. The chip is optimized for low on-state voltage with advanced trench technology, and well protected in a chip-stack by double side sinter process. The disc package is designed with hermetic sealed ceramic housing to avoid environmental erosion and could provide a robust feature of short circuit failure mode (SCFM), which is fully qualified under the worst-case scenario. In addition to the PPI device, system solutions had also been developed and investigated to support field developments, including electrical and mechanical design. An example of a power stack is analyzed in commutation loop, pressure distribution, and power losses.

High-voltage direct-current system based on modular multilevel converter (MMC-HVDC) is widely expected to plays a significant role in promoting the development of large-scale offshore wind power. The maximum current limit of insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is the main constrain for MMC-HVDC to operate in large current operation, while DC-fault blocking ability and economy are the two important concerns of MMC-HVDC. This paper proposes a novel parallel multiple submodule (PM-SM) topology to realize parallel output of submodule currents, which make MMC capable of large current operation and have filtering effect on high frequency harmonics. Combining with carrier phase-shift modulation or nearest level modulation, the frequency multiplication of bridge arm current of MMC can be realized to further improve the power quality of the system. Considering the demand of DC-fault blocking ability, simplified full-bridge double submodule (S-FBDSM) is also proposed as an economical option to compose PM-SM. It can provide double the reverse capacitance voltages in the arm current path regardless of a positive or negative arm fault current. The economic analysis is conducted to demonstrate the advantage of S-FBDSM. Simulation results and experiment results verify the feasibility and superiority of PM-SM composed of S-FBDSM.

Recently, the idea of combining both thyristors and IGBTs in a voltage-source converter (VSC) structure has gained significant research interests for HVDC applications. The main objectives of deriving these topologies are to achieve forced-commutation of thyristors, increased efficiency, reduced energy-storage requirement and dc-fault tolerance besides retaining the VSC control flexibility. A novel topology named ‘thyristor-augmented modular bridge converter’ (TAMBC) is proposed in this paper. Each TAMBC phase contains four chain-links comprising of series-connected stacks. Each stack contains a parallel connection of an IGBT-based submodule-branch and a thyrsitor-branch. A control technique is developed that allows the main current to flow primarily through the thyrsitor-branch to achieve higher efficiency. In each phase of TAMBC, two chain-links generate the required ac voltage in the first half-cycle and are bypassed through thyrsitor-branch during the next half-cycle. Consequently, it enables current distribution among the chain-links resulting in reduced capacitors size and enhanced efficiency. The ability of TAMBC-HVDC systems to function over a wide operating range, to ride-through ac faults and to provide independent active and reactive power control are verified using PSCAD. Capacitors design, loss analysis and comparative evaluations are carried out to highlight the key features of the TAMBC over the existing ones.

A new device design in trench-gate insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) with dual gate control is proposed for high switching controllability with low loss operation. Injection enhancement effect is effective to obtain low power loss operation of IGBTs. However, excess drift carriers limit turn-off dV/dt , and turn-on dI/dt , and the switching controllability by the external gate resistance is degraded. Surface buffer (SB) IGBT with dual gate control is effective to improve the switching controllability, because the hole current can be modulated effectively by the p-MOS control. TCAD simulation results show the SB-IGBT type-II with dual gate control is the best choice for good turn-off and turn-on switching performances.

Solder degradation is one of the main packaging failure modes in insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules, which is usually evaluated through the change of thermal resistance. However, due to the strong electrothermal coupling in the IGBT module, solder degradation also affects electrical characteristics, such as ON-state voltage VCE. The impact mechanism of solder degradation on VCE is analyzed in this paper first. For the study of the solder degradation independently, a press-packing setup is designed for the accelerated aging test, which can remove the influence of bond wires degradation and significantly improve the experimental efficiency. Then, the IGBT equivalent resistance is defined, which conforms to Ohm's law in the calculation and can respond to the real-time dynamic current. So, it could be conveniently used in the finite element method (FEM)-based simulation. Meanwhile, a realistic 3-D degradation model of the solder layer is constructed by an image processing method. Furthermore, an electrothermal coupling model based on the finite element is constructed to study the impact of solder degradation on the electrical and thermal characteristics of IGBT. Finally, the proposed degradation mechanism is verified by simulation and experimental results.

The missing capability of DC fault current limitation is an inherent disadvantage in the typical half-bridge modular multilevel converter (MMC), which restricts its application in long-distance high voltage direct current (HVDC) systems. The full-bridge submodule (FBSM) and clamped double submodule (CDSM) topologies allow for fault current self-clearing, but also suffer from additional hardware cost and power losses. In this paper, an improved submodule topology utilizing the new reverse-blocking insulated gate bipolar transistor (RB-IGBT) is proposed to improve system economy without compromising its performance. The operating principles and DC fault characteristics of the proposed topology are analyzed in details, including comparison with various topologies in terms of cost, losses, fault current clearing speed and thermal. Compared with the traditional CDSM topology, the proposed RBSM can clear DC faults faster with reduced cost of switching devices. A DC fault protection strategy for MMC-HVDC system is also presented. Simulation results under normal operating, permanent and transient fault conditions are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed topology.

The aging and malfunction of devices with great power have been the main causes of the collapse and failure of grid systems. Since they are frequently used in grid systems, the failure of a solid-state-transformer has a great impact on the energy-saving and normal operation of network systems. Moreover, the main switching element of a solid-state-transformer is a welding type IGBT, which is also the most fragile part. First, the uneven current flow phenomenon of paralleled IGBT modules is introduced. Then, the main factors influencing solid-state-transformer failure, along with the short-circuit and open-circuit faults of IGBTs are analyzed. After the derivation $$V_\text{CE}$$ , it can be seen that it is related to the short-circuit and open-circuit faults of IGBTs. After comparison and analysis, one type of solid-state-transformer should be chosen to be widely applied and with integral functions for models and simulations. The IGBTs in solid-state-transformers vary in terms of fault condition and position, which influences the internal and external electrical parameters of systems. Therefore, it is proposed that collector-emitter voltage can be used to characterize the fault conditions of solid-state-transformers. Through simulation verification and waveform observations, it can be seen that the collector-emitter voltage and VM, which is the voltage of the primary side of the transformer in a solid-state-transformer, can be used to characterize the failure condition of the internal converter of the solid-state-transformer.

The power loss estimation is a crucial step for power electronics design, especially for high-power-density systems. Many mathematical approaches are known for power loss estimation, but the system design time can be lowered significantly if a simulation approach is used. This paper discusses the MATLAB-based simulation method for estimating power losses in the three-phase VSI. This simulation is using a real characteristic of the used IGBT transistors for power loss estimation. Next, the model uses the simulated power losses and calculates temperatures at different points in the simulated model. For the visualization, Fusion360 was used to simulate the thermal spreading at the heatsink. Finally, the inverter power losses are measured at the different loads to confirm the accuracy of the model. The temperature of the heatsink is measured with a thermal imaging camera and surface mounted probes.

Electric drive system with Insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) power device is widely used in Electric vehicle (EV), which consists of inverter, cables and Permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). Due to the fast switching in di/dt and dv/dt of IGBT device, the system produces serious radiated Electromagnetic interference (EMI) through the interconnection cables. Thus, modeling of EMI source, propagation path and load PMSM is the key to accurately evaluate the system’s radiation level. In addition, the system’s radiated EMI involves the integrated calculation of circuit, cable and electromagnetic field, which cannot be solved by using a single circuit or electromagnetic calculation method. Therefore, this paper develops an effective field-linecircuit coupling based method to investigate the radiated EMI problems for IGBT-PMSM drive system, which is validated by experimental measurement. Besides, the impact of power cable parameters on radiated EMI is discussed. The proposed approach has guiding significance for electromagnetic compatibility design of EV.

A superjunction insulated gate bipolar transistor (SJ-IGBT) featuring a self-adaptive hole-extracting (SAHE) path is proposed and investigated by simulation. The SAHE path is formed by a narrow p-type mesa between the two trench gates. In the ON-state, the p-type mesa is depleted by the trench gates and the hole path is pinched off so as to maintain high injection efficiency, and thus a low ON-state voltage ( ${V}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}{)}$ is achieved. During the turn-off period, the p-type mesa recovers into neutral region adaptively and then the hole-extracting path is opened, which helps decrease the turn-off loss ( ${E}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle OFF}}$ ) and suppress the dynamic avalanche. Moreover, at the initial turn-on stage with the SAHE path opening, the P-pillar in the proposed device is shorted to the emitter electrode rather than floating, which suppresses the negative capacitance effect. Therefore, compared with the SJ-IGBT with floating P-pillar, the SAHE SJ-IGBT not only achieves better ${V}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}\!\!-\!{E}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle OFF}}$ tradeoff but also reduces the surge current by 23% at the turn-on stage and obtains better controllability on the turn-on $dV_{{\text {CE}}}$ / dt and $dI_{C}$ / dt characteristics, greatly decreasing the electromagnetic interference (EMI).

The performance of theoretical ultrahigh-voltage power semiconductor devices has been predicted by means of numerical simulations using the Sentaurus technology computer-aided design tool. A general silicon carbide punch-through insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) structure has been implemented with suitable physics-based models and parameters to reflect the device characteristics in a wide range of device blocking voltages from 20 to 50 kV. The models for 20 kV class IGBTs have been implicitly validated by means of published experimental results. Mixed-mode simulations were performed that predicted total switching energy loss densities of 335, 629, 906, and 999 mJ/cm2 for 20, 30, 40, and 50 kV class devices, respectively, at 25 °C, JC = 20 A/cm2, and an ambipolar carrier lifetime of 20 μs. While the IGBT on -state forward voltage drop reduces, the switching losses increase with higher charge-carrier lifetime for a given current density (e.g., 20 A/cm2). The large span of simulation results will be used as an input support to the design of future high-power converters.

A novel fast-switching silicon-on-insulator lateral insulated gate bipolar transistor (SOI LIGBT) is proposed and investigated in this article. The proposed device introduces trench barriers (TBs) at the collector end based on shorted anode (SA) structure to eliminate the snapback effect. The introduced TB structure can make the flow path of electron current be compressed and extended when the SA LIGBT is turned on so that the opening of collector p+/n-junction is prior to that of collector n+/n-junction. At the same time, it retains the ability to extract unbalanced electrons when the SA LIGBT is turned off. Through the TCAD simulation, the obtained results show that snapback-free can be realized by changing trench depth and pitch between TB structures. Compared with the separated SA (SSA) LIGBT, the forward voltage drop of the proposed LIGBT is reduced by 13.9% with snapback-free and much shorter collector region, which also retains the ability to extract unbalanced electrons. Thus, under the same forward voltage drop of 1.49 V, the turn-off time, and loss of the proposed LIGBT is 20.3% and 21.1% lower than those of the conventional (Conv.) LIGBT, respectively. In general, the tradeoff between turn-off time and forward voltage drop of the proposed LIGBT has much better performance.

Plasma extraction transit time (PETT) oscillation will cause electromagnetic interference, which is harmful to the device operation. Thus, it is important to estimate the PETT oscillation frequency accurately to suppress this oscillation. While the existing formula for PETT oscillation frequency is approximate due to its divergent problem, in this letter, a modified formula for PETT oscillation frequency is proposed for insulated gate bipolar thyristor devices. The modified formula considers the acceleration process, which is complex but does not change with the electric field. Therefore, the divergence of the formula can be well solved by introducing the modified term. Moreover, the modified formula can be obtained straightforwardly and well match the measured oscillation frequency, which verifies the accuracy of the proposed formula.

In this article, an improved pulsewidth modulation (PWM) strategy is introduced for three-level active neutral point clamped converters based on a hybrid configuration of silicon carbide (SiC) mosfets and silicon (Si) insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBTs). Compared with the conventional PWM strategies in the literature, this proposed PWM strategy enables the SiC switches only to interface with small commutation loops, thus the turn- off voltage overshoots caused by the parasitic loop inductance and high $\boldsymbol{di}/\boldsymbol{dt}$ are much lower. Soft switching is achieved across all the IGBTs, and the switching losses of the converter only dissipate from the SiC mosfets , leading to high efficiency of the converter. Also, with this improved PWM strategy, the conduction loss at zero voltage output of this converter is reduced due to the turn- on of two parallel conduction paths. Furthermore, this proposed PWM strategy can protect the body diodes of the SiC mosfets from conducting large load current. All these advantages with the proposed PWM strategy are experimentally verified in a megawatt-scale three-phase three-level “SiC+Si” hybrid active neutral point clamped inverter developed for electric aircraft propulsion applications.

Induction motors are commonly used in different industrial, housing and medical applications, such as air conditioners, transportation, elevators and others. These motors are rugged, reliable and economical. Generally, the reliable operation of the motor and its drive system is very important in industry so that any expected fault must be detected immediately by a monitoring system. This paper reviews and simulates a three-phase induction motor model and different types of faults that may happen in the drive system. Due to short circuit severity on the overall drive system, this study focuses only on short circuit faults, e.g., when any Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) is shorted out and DC link capacitor is shorted out. Also, an Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Interface System (ANFIS) algorithm is programmed to detect different types of faults and classify them. The ANFIS system takes two parameters as input from the motor: the first one is the load torque whereas the second one is the stator current. Whereas, the previously published works analyze only the motor's stator current. MATLAB is used to train the ANFIS system and also to analyze samples. Additionally, LTSpice is used simulate the drive system. The ANFIS system shows very high accuracy in short circuit fault detection and classification.

Insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) element is an electrically conductive device with Bipolar junction transistor (BJT) output and Metal Oxide Silicon Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) input. The IGBTs is a power semiconductor device that aims for high breakdown voltage, low on-state voltage, fast switching and reliability. This paper is, the experiment was conducted with a two-step field stop, IGBT instead of a traditional one step field stop. In order to minimize the energy loss caused by the trade-off relationship between breakdown voltage and the on-state voltage drop, the experiment was conducted by forming a two-step field stop. Through concentration control between steps, breakdown voltage, On-state Voltage drop and turn off time could be adjusted in detail, and efficient characteristic values could be obtained accordingly. Experiments have confirmed that the On state voltage drop and turn-off time, in particular, can be adjusted by small failure voltage loss upon change in the first stage field stop.

With the increase in frequency, IGBT can generate serious electromagnetic interference (EMI) when it is turned on and off quickly. The variations in voltage and current produced by switching devices in the transient process are the main sources of high-frequency EMI. The ultrafast switching characteristics of IGBT (i.e., high du/dt or di/dt) will cause serious switching oscillation, EMI noise, and additional power loss. The speed of voltage and current variations in transient process is determined by the interelectrode capacitances of the semiconductor switch. Due to the structural characteristics of IGBT, the interelectrode capacitances will change based on the difference in external voltage. This article introduces an improved method to measure the parasitic inductance and resistance of IGBT. This method perfectly avoids the interference of ${Z}_{\text {ground}}$ which refers to the floating terminal impedance to the ground. The parasitic parameters of IGBT can be obtained by fitting the impedance of IGBT with genetic algorithm. The article also introduces a method to measure the parasitic parameters of IGBT on bias voltage with impedance analyzer and dc source. In the experiment, the capacitance is used to protect the impedance analyzer to avoid the dc current from the dc source. Finally, a double-pulse test circuit is used to verify the parasitic parameter model of IGBT measured in this article. By comparing the current and voltage waveforms when IGBT is turned on and off and the voltage frequency domain waveforms in multiple cycles, it is proved that the parasitic parameter model of IGBT is applicable to the circuit.

The article considers existing regulated installations of transverse capacitive compensation for increasing the capacity of sections of the traction network of 25 and 2×25 kV of Russian railways. Characteristics of a static reactive power generator based on bipolar IGBT transistors (manufactured by LLC NPP “RU-Engineering”, Naberezhnye Chelny), a switchable filtercompensating unit (manufactured by the Gorkovskaya Railway and the Nizhny Novgorod branch of SamGUPS), a three-stage switchable filter-compensating unit. To increase the capacity, all installations are switched on at the traction network sectioning posts. Long-term operation of the static reactive power generator and switchable filter-compensating unit have proven their operational efficiency. At the same time, the following upgrades are proposed: in a static reactive power generator it is proposed to reduce the installed power, replacing it with unregulated compensation, and in a switchable filter-compensating installation, it is proposed to switch in 400–500 V steps to normalize the traction mode of the electric rolling stock.It is shown that in terms of technical characteristics, a switchable filter-compensating installation with a thyristor switch is not inferior to a static generator of reactive power in terms of increasing the capacity, and in some respects it surpasses it. On the whole, in terms of payback period, a switchable filter-compensating installation surpasses a static generator of reactive power due to the high cost of the latter. The following options for using the considered installations are proposed. With the required power of transverse capacitive compensation units up to 5–6 MVAr, to increase the capacity, switchable filter-compensating units should be installed. Taking into account real loads, such a solution will be implemented at most sectioning posts. For installations with a capacity of more than 5–6 MVAr, the option of using a static reactive power generator of reduced power should be considered: at high loads, its efficiency will increase.

In this paper, DC modulators are designed that raise the constant voltage to the operating values ​​and that feed the loads The electrical elements that make up the lifter are designed for DC voltage. The main components are designed, which consists of three main phases connected in series with each other. The first stage contains an electric coil that is designed with specific specifications according to the requirements of the load. It also contains a suitable IGBT electronic key selected according to the specifications of the load. The three phases that make up the device are completely identical. The operating strategy of the various electronic switches is compatible with the load operation strategy and specifications. Feeding the step-up device from a group of batteries designed according to the needs of the load. And connect the batteries in series according to the needs of the designer. And the output voltage of the device is controlled at a constant value. This device feeds the DC/AC voltage changer, which in turn feeds the previous load. Determine the level of constant voltage 320VDC to obtain an alternating voltage of 220VAC. The electronic switches are controlled at each stage according to the strategy designed for operation. This strategy was programmed and placed in the memory of the microcontroller, where the Arduino was chosen for this purpose. This type was chosen for its simplicity and ease of programming and operation.

Plasma extraction transit time (PETT) oscillation occurs when insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) devices turn off , whose frequency can reach hundreds of MHz. This high-frequency oscillation can induce electromagnetic interference problems and may exceed relevant IEC limits for electromagnetic emission. As one of the electromagnetic disturbance sources from internal IGBT, the PETT oscillation has not attracted much attention in the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) problems of application and development of high-voltage IGBT devices yet. In this article, the detailed characteristics of PETT oscillation, i.e., oscillation frequency, duration time, and oscillation peak, in high-voltage IGBT devices are systematically investigated by experiments. From the results, oscillation frequency increases with the increase of reverse voltage, whereas decreases with the increase of the temperature. Then, more complex dependencies of the PETT oscillation characteristics on IGBT's commutation conditions are presented. It is shown that its characteristics vary greatly under different reverse voltage, forward current, and temperature. The hazard of PETT oscillation to electronic components is discussed as well. PETT oscillation occurs during the turn- on process, which is first reported. Based on the experiment results, the EMC test related to PETT oscillation is suggested to be performed under different commutation conditions.

Replacing expensive IGBT with thyristor to design dc circuit breaker (dcCB) is attracting attention recently due to its advantages in terms of low investment and low conduction loss. However, due to the half-controlled characteristic of thyristor, the existing thyristor-based dcCBs (T-CBs) cannot be actively turned off . As a result, the opening process is not fully controllable and reliable. In this letter, a simple active T-CB (AT-CB) topology is proposed. The proposed AT-CB can interrupt both fault current and operation current actively, and the current breaking process is fast, reliable, and fully controllable. Moreover, the proposed AT-CB can be improved to be bidirectional without increasing the conduction loss, and the topology remains simple. Parameters design principle and operation process of AT-CB are presented. Scaled-down experiment verified the effectiveness of the proposed solution.

Fatigue failure of insulated gate bipolar transistor modules (IGBTs) packages under low-amplitude temperature swings is of great significance for the reliability evaluation of IGBTs operating in actual power electronic devices. In this article, failure mechanism of die-attach joints in IGBTs under normal operating and accelerated aging was comparably investigated by a three-dimensional electro-thermal-mechanical coupled model. Results indicated that local viscoplastic deformation of solder alloys around stress concentrated areas caused by material microdefects is the root cause of fatigue of die-attach joints under low-amplitude temperature swings. Fatigue cracks can only initiate and propagate at those plastically deformed areas (activation points). Fatigue of die-attach joints is co-determined by the number of activation points and crack growth rate. Comparably, the whole die-attach solder is in viscoplastic deformation under accelerated aging and the number of activation points has reached its saturation. Fatigue of die-attach joints under accelerated aging is only determined by the crack growth rate. Due to the difference in failure mechanism, it is questionable to directly extend conventional life models to normal operating conditions. Accordingly, an energy-based physical life model for die-attach joints in IGBTs under low-amplitude temperature swings was proposed.

Single-phase matrix converters (MCs) are undergoing rapid developments due to their bipolar voltage gain (as required in dynamic voltage restorers) and step-changed frequency operation (used in high step-up ac–dc rectifiers, and to provide medium frequency isolation in traction and wind turbine converters, etc.). However, existing buck–boost MCs require high-voltage/current rating devices, and suffer from large component voltage/current stresses and ripples, significantly degrading their efficiency. This article proposes a highly efficient single-phase buck–boost MC; consisting of eight IGBTs (implemented using two full-bridge IGBT modules), second-order input and output filters, and a small value film capacitor. Efficient discrete inverting and noninverting buck and boost operations are proposed (same as that of sixteen-switch cascaded buck–boost MC) with significantly lower component voltage/current stresses and ripples. In addition, flexible inverting and noninverting buck–boost operations are proposed with independent control of buck and boost duty ratios. All of the proposed operations are free of commutation issues, compatible with reactive loads, and provide smooth input and output currents. Furthermore, all the switches have same voltage stresses, and all four switches in a full-bridge module experience the same current stresses. A comprehensive description of circuit operation is presented based on a number of proposed switch modulation strategies with a nonunity power factor load, followed by design guidelines, and comparative evaluations with existing topologies. Finally, experimental verification results are presented, using a 400-VA laboratory prototype converter.

The basic IGBT structure was reported about 40 years ago and has become more complex to achieve lower losses, higher robustness, higher reliability, and cost-effectiveness. Today’s power devices are also required to improve noise characteristics corresponding to its increasing switching speed. In noise analysis based on switching waveforms, Fourier transform (FT) is often applied to estimate the causes as device structure has frequently been improved. However, the time information is implicitly deleted according to FT, and it is difficult to consider the causes by extraction of specific parts on waveforms because every waveform’s time axis includes important information for device structures. This article presents analysis methodology to identify the key parts without deleting time information by using a wavelet transform and elucidates the effect of transition of dominant radiated noise generated at turn-on operation in case of different carrier stored layer density in CSTBTs.

A high-power marine controlled-source electromagnetic transmitter (HP-MCSET) transmits a high-frequency conversion current on the sea floor. Some problems exist when the direct-current to alternating-current (DC-AC) launch bridge (LB) is used in the marine controlled-source electromagnetic transmitter (MCSET). There is a high voltage peak in the LB when the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is turned on and off. In some cases, the voltage stress of the IGBT can be exceeded, which may cause IGBT damage. Because the rise of the current steepness is relatively low and the output voltage has a voltage peak in the LB, a snubber circuit is added to the IGBT to suppress the voltage peak to improve the output current and voltage waveform. The suppression of the voltage peaks is analyzed and compared for several groups of snubber circuits. To meet the performance requirements of the MCSET, the optimal snubber circuit is selected to effectively suppress the voltage peaks at an output current of 1 kA. This method is verified by using a 70 kW MCSET and the experimental waveforms are provided. The simulation of the inductance obstruction load in seawater is necessary to determine the conditions for actual marine environment experiments.

As core components of power converters, the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) module is required to have long-term reliability in increasingly more applications. To assess and improve the reliability, power cycling (PC) tests are conducted to determine the lifetime of IGBT modules; these tests are very time-consuming and may take a couple of weeks or even months for a single sample. Therefore, an urgent need in the industrial community is to develop an accurate and efficient method to predict the lifetime of the IGBT modules. In this article, we present a lifetime prediction method, in which the self-accelerating effect of bond wire damage on the lifetime is considered by using the feedback from the collector–emitter ON-resistance degradation into the power loss model, and a degradation model is proposed to describe the degradation process of the collector–emitter ON-resistance. Base on the physical PC tests of IGBT modules, we demonstrate that the proposed method accurately and efficiently predicts the lifetime of IGBT modules.

Operational and health management for the reliability of power electronic converters requires sensitive condition monitoring and accurate estimation of the remaining lifetime. This study adds to the second aspect by examining the effects of failure locations on junction temperature profiles under different conditions. It is found that die-attach solder fatigue and direct bonding copper (DBC) solder fatigue, which occur frequently during the serving time, have different effects on thermal loads. This article investigates the dependence of thermal stress effects on failure locations and output electrical frequencies using finite-element models and proposes an updated strategy for the Cauer-type thermal model according to the failure location. Experimental results validate the proposed model. The remaining lifetime of the doubly fed induction generator converter is calculated under different health conditions and failure locations using a modified lifetime model. This article is intended for the health management of converter systems and is supposed to be in service reliably.

Finite control set model predictive control has received extensive attention because of its excellent dynamic performance; however, it still needs to be studied in terms of torque ripples reduction and parameter robustness. To reduce the steady-state torque ripples and maintain the appropriate antiparameter perturbation ability, in this article, we propose a model predictive direct duty-cycle control (MPD2C) strategy based on “variable control set (VCS).” In the proposed strategy, the direct mapping relations between the electromagnetic torque, flux, and three-phase duty cycles have been established by exploring the dual relationship of vector synthesis and duty cycles. On this basis, the novel predictive model and VCS that uses the three-phase duty cycles as the key variable are constructed. Finally, the proposed strategy determines the three-phase duty cycles from VCS by employing a two-stage optimization mechanism, which means the proposed strategy can generate virtual vectors with multiple insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) switching patterns. Then, the high-precision torque and flux adjustment would be achieved. The experimental results show that VCS-MPD2C has excellent static and dynamic control performance, acceptable execution efficiency, and relatively good parameter robustness.

For some industrial converter applications such as battery chargers, a DC/DC converter is needed to step down the high DC (direct current) voltages generated by PWM (pulse with modulated) rectifiers to lower voltage levels such as 110V/220V. These both complicate the design and decrease the efficiency. In this paper, a novel topology that includes a step-down transformer and a novel control algorithm is proposed. The proposed current, which is synchronized, look-up table based, sinusoidal PWM control method (CS-LUT-SPWM method) using switching frequency-oriented synchronization (SWFOS) results in a very fast PWM generation and stable operation. Finally, a new thyristor-based start-up circuit providing safe operation when there is energy black out is proposed. A 32-kW converter has been designed, built, and tested to prove the concepts. The proposed converter has an efficiency higher than 94%, an input current total harmonic distortion (THDi) less than 5%, and a power factor closer to 0.99. Theoretical calculations and experimented results show that proposed converter has better efficiency (94%-96%) compared to classical PWM boost rectifiers with a series DC/DC converter topology (92%) in the literature. Fast PWM control algorithm, less complexity, low switching noises, one-stage conversion circuit, and novel start-up circuit are other advantages of the proposed converter.

In this paper, a phase-shifted full-bridge current-doubler synchronous rectifying converter (PSFB-CDSRC) based on IGBT and its control strategies are studied. In the main circuit, a current doubling synchronous rectifying circuit based on IGBT is presented to further reduce the power loss of power devices. Moreover, in the control strategy, in view of the existing researches, the basic BP neural network PID control performance of the rectifying converter still can be further improved. Therefore, this paper combines the quasi-Newton algorithm and traditional GA to propose an improved GA-BP (IGA-BP) neural network to further improve PID control performance. The simulation results demonstrate that the maximum efficiency of 5 V/500 A rectifying converter based on the proposed circuit scheme can reach 94.1%, and the rectifying converter has a good performance of excellent waveform and wide range of load. IGA-BP neural network PID control responds fast and reaches the stable state quickly in comparison with that controlled by the GA-BP neural network control strategy, and the steady-state time can be reduced by 10.5% through using IGA-BP neural network control strategy. This study can provide a valuable guidance and reference, not only in circuit scheme but also in the optimal PID control strategy for design of the high-efficiency DC/DC rectifying converter with higher power in the future.