Abstract
Sharp voltage gradients act as a stimulus for high power IGBT modules, which can exhibit a potentially instable high frequency behaviour. In effect, they can act as a radio frequency (RF) amplifier and under certain operating conditions the interaction between the device and the control or the external circuit can cause self-sustaining oscillations or the enhancement of the unevenness in current distribution inside a power module and that can have a significant impact on the reliability of the power converter. Moreover, this RF amplification worsen the generated EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference). This paper presents an extensive experimental investigation about the high frequency behaviour of IGBT high power modules. Measurements were performed by an original experimental set-up that was specifically conceived and constructed. Data were analysed with the help of a theoretical small signal model which was able to describe RF behaviour of high power IGBT modules.
Highlights
The IGBT has become the mainly used power semiconductor device in modern power converter circuits in medium and high voltage applications
They can act as a radio frequency (RF) amplifier and under certain operating conditions the interaction between the device and the control or the external circuit can cause self-sustaining oscillations or the enhancement of the unevenness in current distribution inside a power module and that can have a significant impact on the reliability of the power converter
This paper presents an extensive experimental investigation about the high frequency behaviour of IGBT high power modules
Summary
The IGBT has become the mainly used power semiconductor device in modern power converter circuits in medium and high voltage applications. Even if these modules are designed to operate at relatively low frequency, typically < 5kHz, they can produce high frequency oscillations which turn out from the interaction between the device, the driver and the converter circuit. In particular it was found that the main stimulus to the electromagnetic noise emission is attributed to the voltage gradients [3] In addition to these problems, it was found [5] that IGBT devices can exhibit a significant voltage amplification at high frequency so that the problems of the oscillations can be further enhanced. The IGBT amplification phenomena can become relevant if the driver circuit generates high frequency conducted noise components, that can be transferred to the power stage and amplified, generating very high EMI levels
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