Modularized Series-connected IGBTs

With the rapid increasing demand from high power and high voltage applications, such as power system, the voltage rating and current rating for power electronics converter is increased too, further resulting in the demand for power devices which can tackle with high voltage and high current. Though with the rapid development of power device technology, the manufacturing of fully controlled high-voltage power devices is possible, it still can not meet the demand from the practical application. Therefore, the series connection of power devices to achieve higher voltage rating is an important way to high voltage application.IGBT devices as a new device, has superior performances than other power devices. The paper focuses on modularized series-connected IGBTs.First of all, the packaging structure and design requirement of IGBT power module are introduced and the thermal and electrical characteristics of the IGBT module are studied using computer simulation. Based on the review of the research about series connection, of IGBTs, the paper analyzes and discusses the technology of series-connected IGBTs, and set the goal of achieving series connection at chip level within the standard module package using gate active-clamping method as the strategy of modularized series-connected IGBTs.On this basis, we design and make the 3300V series-connected IGBT samples. For testing the samples, we build a double-pulse testing platform for 10000V/100A modules. The test results verify the effectiveness of modularized series-connected IGBTs. Meanwhile, testing results show that the series connection of low-voltage IGBTs have better switching performance over the high-voltage IGBTs in the switching characteristics.