Fast thermal profiling of power semiconductor devices using Fourier techniques

Accurate prediction of temperature variation of power semiconductor devices in power electronic circuits is important to obtain optimum designs and estimate reliability levels. Temperature estimation of power electronic devices has generally been performed using transient thermal equivalent circuits. In the presence of varying load cycles, it has been typical to resort to a time domain electrical simulation tool such as P-Spice/sup TM/ or SABER/sup TM/ to obtain a time series of the temperature profiles. However, for complex and periodic load cycles, time series simulation is time consuming. In this paper, a fast fourier analysis based approach is presented for obtaining temperature profiles for power semiconductors. The model can be implemented readily into a spreadsheet or simple mathematical algebraic calculation software. The technique can be used for predicting lifetime and reliability level of power circuits easily. Details of the analytical approach and illustrative examples are presented in the paper.

[1]  L. Tolbert,et al.  Impact of SiC Power Electronic Devices for Hybrid Electric Vehicles , 2002 .

[2]  Eric Woirgard,et al.  High power IGBT modules: thermal fatigue resistance evaluation of the solder joints , 2000, IWIPP 2000. International Workshop on Integrated Power Packaging (Cat. No.00EX426).

[3]  D.A. Murdock,et al.  Active thermal control of power electronic modules , 2003, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications.

[4]  S. Lefebvre,et al.  Thermal analysis of high power IGBT modules , 2000, 12th International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices & ICs. Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37094).

[5]  J. W. Sofia.  Analysis of thermal transient data with synthesized dynamic models for semiconductor devices , 1994 .

[6]  L. Tolbert,et al.  Effects of silicon carbide (SiC) power devices on HEV PWM inverter losses , 2001, IECON'01. 27th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (Cat. No.37243).

[7]  Edward Carl Francis Lovelace.  Optimization of a magnetically saturable interior permanent-magnet synchronous machine drive , 2000 .

[8]  Wolfgang Fichtner,et al.  Thermal component model for electrothermal analysis of IGBT module systems , 2001 .

[9]  P.M. Igic,et al.  Physics-based dynamic electro-thermal models of power bipolar devices (PiN diode and IGBT) , 2001, Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices & ICs. IPSD '01 (IEEE Cat. No.01CH37216).

[10]  Robert D. Lorenz,et al.  Active thermal control of power electronics modules , 2003 .

[11]  Dr. Martin März,et al.  Thermal Modeling of Power-electronic Systems , 2000 .

[12]  R. Kraus,et al.  Parameter extraction methodology and validation for an electro-thermal physics-based NPT IGBT model , 1997, IAS '97. Conference Record of the 1997 IEEE Industry Applications Conference Thirty-Second IAS Annual Meeting.

[13]  G. Nicoletti,et al.  Fast power cycling test of IGBT modules in traction application , 1997, Proceedings of Second International Conference on Power Electronics and Drive Systems.

[14]  William A. Sethares,et al.  Thermal parameter estimation using recursive identification , 1991 .

[15]  Lipei Huang,et al.  Power loss and junction temperature analysis of power semiconductor devices , 1999, Conference Record of the 1999 IEEE Industry Applications Conference. Thirty-Forth IAS Annual Meeting (Cat. No.99CH36370).

[16]  Peter Rodgers,et al.  Prediction of Microelectronics Thermal Behavior in Electronic Equipment: Status, Challenges and Future Requirements , 2004 .

[17]  V. Blasko,et al.  On line thermal model and thermal management strategy of a three phase voltage source inverter , 1999, Conference Record of the 1999 IEEE Industry Applications Conference. Thirty-Forth IAS Annual Meeting (Cat. No.99CH36370).