14 April 2016

CISSOID delivers prototypes of three-phase 1200V/100A SiC MOSFET intelligent power modules to Thales

Fabless high-temperature and and extended-lifetime semiconductor firm CISSOID of Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium has delivered the first prototypes of a three-phase 1200V/100A silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET intelligent power module (IPM) to Thales Avionics Electrical Systems. Developed with the support of Clean Sky Joint Undertaking, the module will help to increase power converter density (by decreasing weight and size) for power generation and electromechanical actuators in 'More-Electrical Aircraft'.

CISSOID says that the IPM offers optimal integration of the gate driver together with power transistors in order to take advantage of the full benefits of SiC, i.e. low switching losses and high operating temperature. Leveraging its HADES2 isolated gate driver (which incorporates years of development in driving SiC transistors), it combines advanced packaging technologies, enabling reliable operation of power modules in extreme conditions, the firm adds.

For the new aerospace module, a three-phase power inverter topology was selected while other topologies are being investigated for hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and railways projects. In this three-phase topology, each of the six switch positions includes a 100A SiC MOSFET transistor and a 100A SiC Schottky free-wheeling diode. The devices can block voltages up to 1200V, which provides enough headroom against over-voltages in a 540V aerospace DC bus, and the module is designed to be easily upgraded with 1700V/150A SiC devices. The transistors have a typical on-resistance of 12.5mΩ or 8.5mΩ, depending on their current rating (either 100A or 150A).

During the design of the module, special care was placed on thermal aspects, says the firm. First, all the materials have been selected to allow reliable operation at high junction temperatures (up to 200°C, with peaks at 225°C) in order to decrease cooling requirements. This materials selection also enables high case and storage temperatures (up to 150°C). Finally, the module is based on high-performance materials such as an AlSiC baseplate, AlN substrates and silver sintering in order to offer near-perfect CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) matching with SiC devices and high robustness against thermal and power cycling.

Co-designing the gate driver with the power module in a single IPM allowed CISSOID to optimize the gate driver circuit, taking into account parasitic inductances of the power module while minimizing them when possible. Minimizing parasitic inductances allows faster SiC transistor switching and lower switching losses. An IPM also offers a plug-and-play solution to power electronic designers, who can hence save a lot of time in the design of the gate driver board (which is particularly challenging with SiC transistors). They can then focus on the design of high-density power converters, taking advantage of SiC.

"It was a pleasure to work with CISSOID team in the frame of this Clean Sky program. They showed a great flexibility in proposing us solutions addressing the requirements of the next generation of high-density power converters for the More-Electrical-Aircraft," comments Taoufik Bensalah, Power Converter Design Team Manager at Thales Avionics. "We thank Clean Sky for making this cooperation possible, which is a good example of CISSOID combined expertise in packaging and circuit design," adds Etienne Vanzieleghem, VP engineering at CISSOID. "This project was also an opportunity to strengthen our cooperation with PRIMES platform in Tarbes, which is hosting the CISSOID packaging team."

See related items:

CISSOID releases HADES high-temperature, high-reliability isolated gate driver for high-density power converters

Tags: CISSOID SiC power MOSFET SiC Schottkys

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