Comparison of TSEP Performances Operating at Homogeneous and Inhomogeneous Temperature Distribution in Multichip IGBT Power Modules

Abstract

Temperature Sensitive Electrical Parameters (TSEPs) are used to determine the chip temperature of a singlechip IGBT power module by measuring one electrical device parameter. Commonly, most TSEPs have a linear relationship between the chip temperature and the electrical parameter. Like any sensor, preferred attributes of TSEPs include good accuracy, linearity, and sensitivity. For multichip Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (mIGBTs) modules, these can only be achieved when all chips have the same temperature. Equal chip temperatures among different semiconductor chips can be achieved when placing mIGBTs in environmental chambers to produce a homogeneous temperature distribution (HTD). In real applications, however, mIGBTs are power cycled and are exposed to inhomogeneous temperature distribution (ITD) where temperature differences exist between chips. Consequently, measuring one electric parameter only cannot represent each chip temperature which impacts the TSEP sensitivity, linearity, and accuracy. This paper compares the performance of ten TSEPs applied to a mIGBT module operating at HTD and ITD conditions in order to determine which TSEPs are most suitable for mIGBTs in real applications.

Junction Temperature Measurement Based on the Internal Gate Resistance for a Wide Range of Power Semiconductors

“…1). An overview of TSEPs' sensitivity and applicability is given in [6]- [8]. Most of the TSEPs known for Si semiconductors have also been applied to SiC devices [9]- [19].…”

Accurate evaluation of cooling system capability of three-phase IGBT-based inverter

“…A method evaluates the junction temperature of insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) under light load, half load, rated power, and overload conditions gradually is preferred, to prevent damage to power devices by directly operating at the maximum allowed power. Commonly used junction temperature monitoring methods can be classified as conduction contact-based, electro-thermal model-based, optical, and temperature-sensitive electrical parameter (TSEP)-based methods [10][11][12][13] . The TSEP-based method uses the chip itself as a temperature sensor, which has advantages in terms of accuracy, control modification, and hardware invasion [10][11][12][13] .…”