Design and Development of a Measurement System Dedicated to Estimate the Junction Temperature of Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor Modules

Abstract:

The damage state estimation of an Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) power module requires the measurement of the junction temperature (Tj) of the active region. However, the accurate measurement of the temperature Tj is not simple to achieve and several methods have been developed to improve the accuracy of Tj measurements. Some of the well-known methods include the use of thermo-sensitive electrical parameters (TSEP). Although the TSEP methods do not provide access to the thermal mapping of the IGBT surface, they have the advantage of not affecting the physical integrity of the module. This paper aims to present a reliable programmable measurement system dedicated to estimating with great accuracy the thermal performance of the IGBT power module on the microsecond scale using the TSEP method. The advantage of this system is to provide full control of the injection of the power current and allows quick measurements of the cooling curve just after the injection of the heating power in the chip. The junction temperature calculated from the TSEP was found to be equal to 97.5 °C, which was confirmed by using the thermal camera. The accuracy of the proposed technique was found to be less than 2%. A comparison with the thermal Resistor-Capacitor (RC) network model is also carried out in this work. Experimental results demonstrate that the designed system is high efficiency and can, therefore, be used by scientific researchers and industrial engineers for predictive maintenance to monitor the performance state of IGBT power modules, which will reduce the probability of its failure or degradation.

• Periodical: International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa (Volume 60)
• Pages: 89-106
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-z9wh2k
• Online since: May 2022
• Authors: Badredine Lamuadni*, Rachid El Bouayadi, Aouatif Amine, Driss Zejli
• Keywords: IGBT Modules, Junction Temperature, Power Converters, Thermal Performance, TSEP

References

[1] N. Iwamuro, S. Member, T. Laska, IGBT History, State-of-the-Art, and Future Prospects, IEEE Trans. Electron Devices. (2017) 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1109/TED.2017.2654599.

DOI: 10.1109/ted.2017.2654599

[2] W. Huai, M. Liserre, F. Blaabjerg, P. De Place Rimmen, J.B. Jacobsen, T. Kvisgaard, J. Landkildehus, Transitioning to physics-of-failure as a reliability driver in power electronics, IEEE J. Emerg. Sel. Top. Power Electron. 2 (2014) 97–114. https://doi.org/10.1109/ JESTPE.2013.2290282.

DOI: 10.1109/jestpe.2013.2290282

[3] X.G. C.Zhang, J.Shen, X.Xiao, Q.Deng, H.Wang, A New Design Method of IGBT Module with Embedded Vapor Chamber for Optimal Heat Radiation, IEEE 1st Int. Power Electron. Appl. Symp. (2021). https://doi.org/10.1109/PEAS53589.2021.9628676.

DOI: 10.1109/peas53589.2021.9628676

[4] S. Yang, A. Bryant, P. Mawby, D. Xiang, L. Ran, P. Tavner, An industry-based survey of reliability in power electronic converters, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl. 47 (2011) 1441–1451. https://doi.org/10.1109/TIA.2011.2124436.

DOI: 10.1109/tia.2011.2124436

[5] A. Abuelnaga, M. Narimani, A.S. Bahman, A review on IGBT module failure modes and lifetime testing, IEEE Access. 9 (2021) 9643–9663. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS. 2021.3049738.

DOI: 10.1109/access.2021.3049738

[6] L. Dupont, Y. Avenas, P.E. Vidal, Évaluation De La Température Des Composants Actifs De Puissance, 33 (2017).

DOI: 10.51257/a-v1-d3114

[7] D.L. Blackburn, Temperature measurements of semiconductor devices - a review, Twentieth Annual IEEE Semiconductor Thermal Measurement, and Management Symposium (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37545). (2004) 70–80. https://doi.org/10.1109/STHERM.2004.1291304.

DOI: 10.1109/stherm.2004.1291285

[8] R. Schmidt, U. Scheuermann, Using the chip as a temperature sensor - The influence of steep lateral temperature gradients on the Vce(T)-measurement, 2009 13th Eur. Conf. Power Electron. Appl. EPE '09. (2009). https://doi.org/10.1080/09398368.2011.11463790.

DOI: 10.1080/09398368.2011.11463790

[9] Y. Avenas, L. Dupont, Evaluation of IGBT thermo-sensitive electrical parameters under different dissipation conditions – Comparison with infrared measurements, Microelectron. Reliab. 52 (2012) 2617–2626. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microrel.2012.03.032.

DOI: 10.1016/j.microrel.2012.03.032

[10] B. Thollin, L. Dupont, Z. Khatir, Y. Avenas, J.C. Crebier, P.O. Jeannin, Partial thermal impedance measurement for die interconnection characterization by a microsecond pulsed heating curve technique,, 2013 15th Eur. Conf. Power Electron. Appl. EPE 2013. (2013). https://doi.org/10.1109/EPE.2013.6634411.

DOI: 10.1109/epe.2013.6634411

[11] Z. Jakopovic, Z. Bencic, F. Kolonic, Important properties of transient thermal impedance for MOS-gated power semiconductors, IEEE Int. Symp. Ind. Electron. 2 (1999) 574–578. https://doi.org/10.1109/isie.1999.798675.

DOI: 10.1109/isie.1999.798675

[12] A. Wintrich, N. Ulrich, T. Werner, T. Reimann, Application Manual Power Semiconductors, 2015. https://www.semikron.com/service-support/application-manual.html.

[13] U.M. Choi, F. Blaabjerg, S. Jørgensen, Power Cycling Test Methods for Reliability Assessment of Power Device Modules in Respect to Temperature Stress, IEEE Trans. Power Electron. 33 (2018) 2531–2551. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPEL.2017.2690500.

DOI: 10.1109/tpel.2017.2690500

[14] E. Deng, Z. Zhao, Q. Xin, J. Zhang, Y. Huang, Analysis on the difference of the characteristic between high power IGBT modules and press pack IGBTs, Microelectron. Reliab. 78 (2017) 25–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microrel.2017.07.095.

DOI: 10.1016/j.microrel.2017.07.095

[15] C. Wang, Y. He, Y. Jiang, L. Li, An anti-interference online monitoring method for IGBT bond wire aging, Electron. 10 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10121449.

DOI: 10.3390/electronics10121449

[16] C. Busca, R. Teodorescu, F. Blaabjerg, S. Munk-Nielsen, L. Helle, T. Abeyasekera, P. Rodriguez, An overview of the reliability prediction related aspects of high power IGBTs in wind power applications, Microelectronics Reliability, Elsevier Ltd, 2011: p.1903–1907. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microrel.2011.06.053.

DOI: 10.1016/j.microrel.2011.06.053

[17] X. Perpiñà, J.F. Serviere, J. Saiz, D. Barlini, M. Mermet-Guyennet, J. Millán, Temperature measurement on series resistance and devices in power packs based on on-state voltage drop monitoring at high current, Microelectronics Reliability. 46 (2006) 1834–1839. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microrel.2006.07.078.

DOI: 10.1016/j.microrel.2006.07.078

[18] J.L. Christian Herold, Jörg Franke, Riteshkumar Bhojani, Andre Schleicher, Methods for virtual junction temperature measurement respecting internal semiconductor processes, 2015 IEEE 27th Int. Symp. Power Semicond. Devices IC's. (n.d.). https://doi.org/10.1109/ ISPSD.2015.7123455.

DOI: 10.1109/ispsd.2015.7123455

[19] D.L. Blackburn, A review of thermal characterization of power transistors, Semicond. Therm. Temp. Meas. Symp. 1988. SEMI-THERM IV., Fourth Annu. IEEE. (1988) 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1109/SEMTHE.1988.10589.

[20] A. Rashed, F. Forest, J.-. Huselstein, T. Martiré, and P. Enrici, On-Line [ TJ, Vce ] Monitoring of IGBTs Stressed by Fast Power Cycling Tests, Power Electron. Appl. (EPE), 2013 15th Eur. Conf. (2013). https://doi.org/10.1109/EPE.2013.6631965.

DOI: 10.1109/epe.2013.6631965

[21] D. Schweitzer, H. Pape, L. Chen, R. Kutscherauer, M. Walder, Transient Dual Interface Measurement – A New JEDEC Standard for the Measurement of the Junction-to-Case Thermal Resistance, IEEE. (2011). https://doi.org/10.1109/STHERM.2011.5767204.

DOI: 10.1109/stherm.2011.5767204

[22] U.M. Choi, F. Blaabjerg, F. Iannuzzo, S. Jørgensen, Junction temperature estimation method for a 600 V, 30A IGBT module during converter operation, Microelectron. Reliab. (2015) 6–10. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microrel.2015.06.146.

DOI: 10.1016/j.microrel.2015.06.146

[23] A. Koenig, T. Plum, P. Fidler, R.W. De Doncker, On-line Junction Temperature Measurement of CoolMOS Devices, IEEE 2007 7th Int. Conf. Power Electron. Drive Syst. (2007) 90–95. https://doi.org/10.1109/PEDS.2007.4487683.

DOI: 10.1109/peds.2007.4487683

[24] Y. Kim, S. Sul, On-Line Estimation of IGBT Junction Temperature Using On-State Voltage Drop, Conf. Rec. 1998 IEEE Ind. Appl. Conf. Thirty-Third IAS Annu. Meet. (Cat. No.98CH36242). (1998) 853–859. https://doi.org/10.1109/IAS.1998.730245.

DOI: 10.1109/ias.1998.730245

[25] X. Du, J. Zhang, S. Zheng, H.M. Tai, Thermal Network Parameter Estimation Using Cooling Curve of IGBT Module, IEEE Trans. Power Electron. PP (2018) 1. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPEL.2018.2879845.

DOI: 10.1109/tpel.2018.2879845

[26] LEM, LA 55-p, (2018) 3. https://www.lem.com/sites/default/files/products_datasheets/la_55-p_e.pdf.

[27] X. Du, T. Li, J. Zhang, H.M. Tai, P. Sun, L. Zhou, Thermal network parameter identification of IGBT module based on the cooling curve of junction temperature, Conf. Proc. - IEEE Appl. Power Electron. Conf. Expo. - APEC. 2016-May (2016) 2992–2997. https://doi.org/10.1109/APEC.2016.7468289.

DOI: 10.1109/apec.2016.7468289

[28] IEC Standard 60747-15 Semiconductor Devices, – Discrete Devices, Part 15: Isolated power semiconductor devices, (n.d.).

DOI: 10.3403/30162214

[29] N. Bv, RC Thermal Models, 2021. https://www.nexperia.com/.

[30] JESD51-14, Transient Dual Interface Test Method for the Measurement of the Thermal Resistance Junction-to-Case of Semiconductor Devices with Heat Flow Through a Single Path, n.d. https://doi.org/https://www.jedec.org/standards-documents/docs/jesd51-14-0.

[31] K.I. Pandya, W. Mcdaniel, A Simplified Method of Generating Thermal Models for Power MOSFETs, Eighteenth Annu. IEEE Semicond. Therm. Meas. Manag. Symp. Proc. 2002. (n.d.) 83–87. https://doi.org/10.1109/STHERM.2002.991350.

DOI: 10.1109/stherm.2002.991350

[32] G. Coquery, R. Lallemand, Failure criteria for long term Accelerated Power Cycling Test linked to electrical turn off SOA on IGBT module. A 4000 hours test on 1200A-3300V module with A1SiC base plate., Microelectron. Reliab. 40 (2000) 1665–1670. https://doi.org/ https://doi.org/10.1016/S0026-2714(00)00191-8.

DOI: 10.1016/s0026-2714(00)00191-8