Power Electronics Europe - Issue 3 - April 2009 · Stored Trench Gate Bipolar Transistor (LPT-CSTBT™) technology and a new free-wheel diode design to reduce IGBT losses and to suppress

POWER SEMICONDUCTORS3rd Generation Silicon CarbideSchottky Diodes Pave the Way forEnergy Efficient Power Solutions

ISSUE 3 – APRIL 2009

Also inside this issueOpinion | Market News | APEC 2009 | PCIM 2009 | Solar Power |Automotive Power | Industrial Power | Products | Website Locator

p01 Cover.qxd:p01 Cover 26/3/09 15:53 Page 1

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02_PEE Issue3_2009:02_PEE Issue3_2009 26/3/09 15:59 Page 1

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CONTENTS

Power Electronics Europe Issue 3 2009

3

Editor Achim Scharf

Tel: +49 (0)892865 9794

Fax: +49 (0)892800 132

Email: [email protected]

Production Editor Elaine Gladwell

Tel: +44 (0)1322 380057

Editorial/Advertisement Administration

Clare Jackson

Tel: +44 (0)1732 886495

Fax: +44 (0)1732 886149

Circulation Manager Anne Backers

Tel: +44 (0)208 647 3133

Fax: +44 (0)208 669 8013

INTERNATIONAL SALES OFFICES

Mainland Europe:

Victoria Hufmann, Norbert Hufmann

Tel: +49 911 9397 643 Fax: +49 911 9397 6459


Armin Wezel

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UK

Steve Regnier, Tim Anstee

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email: [email protected]

Eastern US

Karen C Smith-Kernc


Western US and Canada

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Tel: +1 717 397 7100

Fax: +1 717 397 7800


Italy

Ferruccio Silvera

Tel: +39 022 846 716 Email: [email protected]

Taiwan

Prisco Ind. Service Corp.

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Publisher Ian Atkinson

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www.power-mag.com

Circulation and subscription: Power ElectronicsEurope is available for the following subscriptioncharges. Power Electronics Europe: annual chargeUK/NI £60, overseas $130, EUR 120; single copiesUK/NI £10, overseas US$32, EUR 25. Contact:Techmedia International Ltd, Kildonan, St Mary’sRoad, Wrotham, Kent TN15 7AP, Great Britain.Tel: +44 (0)1732 886495. Fax: +44 (0)1732886149. Refunds on cancelled subscriptions willonly be provided at the Publisher’s discretion, unlessspecifically guaranteed within the terms ofsubscription offer.

Editorial information should be sent to The Editor,Power Electronics Europe, PO Box 340131, 80098Munich, Germany.

The contents of Power Electronics Europe aresubject to reproduction in information storage andretrieval systems. All rights reserved. No part of thispublication may be reproduced in any form or by anymeans, electronic or mechanical includingphotocopying, recording or any information storageor retrieval system without the express prior writtenconsent of the publisher.Origination: Elaine GladwellPrinted by: Wyndeham Heron Limited.ISSN 1748-3530

PAGE 18

PCIM 2009 - Efficiency is the Nameof the GameAPEC 2009 will be followed by the main European power electronics event PCIM.Despite the crisis in the financial sector, PCIM 2009 from May 11 – 14 inNuremberg looks quite healthy with 260 exhibitors and 6500 visitors expected.The conference will see about 600 delegates and will be opened on Tuesday May12 at 9.00 with a welcome address as usual. But the landscape has changed;business today and over the remaining year will not be as usual.

PAGE 29

Current Sensing in Advanced PowerElectronics ApplicationsThe progress in the development of power electronics applications such asadvanced drives and regenerative electrical conversion needs new hardwarecomponents like current measuring transducers with advanced features. LEMprovides appropriate solutions for current measurement in such applications. Theyfeature small size and low output voltage drift for an outstanding accuracy acrossthe working temperature range. Jürgen Koß, Sales and Marketing ManagerIndustrial Transducers, LEM, Germany

PAGE 32

Innovative Topologies for HighEfficient Solar ApplicationsWith the race towards highest efficiency, innovative topologies are more oftenconsidered for the development of new power conversion products. Old well-known ideas revive because the advanced power module technology, inconnection with elevated requirements into efficiency, makes the utilisationeconomical. In this article, power module topologies with paralleled MOSFET –IGBT switch dedicated for new high efficient solar applications are presented.Michael Frisch and Temesi Ernö, Vincotech Germany and Hungary

PAGE 34

Micro-Transformers Provide Signal andPower Isolation for Hybrid ElectricVehiclesHybrid Electric Vehicles have gained increased popularity in recent years asconsumers look for alternative fuel vehicles to conserve energy and reduce CO2emissions. While batteries are at the heart of HEVs, they are also the source ofmany barriers to adopting HEVs because of reliability, safety, weight and cost. Toovercome these barriers, battery monitoring systems are employed to maintainlongevity and safe operation of the batteries. Due to their high operating voltage,sophisticated isolation techniques are required. Baoxing Chen, Sr. StaffEngineer, Analog Devices, USA

PAGE 37

Optically Isolated Sigma-DeltaModulator Precisely MeasuresCurrents and VoltagesA new isolated Sigma-Delta Modulator is a good choice for such designs. Offeredin a 16-lead small outline package, the isolated A/D converter delivers thereliability, small size, superior isolation and over-temperature performance motordrive designers need to accurately measure current. Chen Hong Lei, AvagoTechnologies, Singapore

PAGE 40

Product UpdateA digest of the latest innovations and new product launches

PAGE 42

Website Product Locator

3rd Generation SiliconCarbide Schottky DiodesPave the Way for EnergyEfficient Power SolutionsA new generation of silicon carbide Schottky diodes in600 and 1200V blocking voltage class has recentlybeen introduced by Infineon Technologies. A reductionof device capacitances and improved thermal couplingchip to package extend diode performance limits aswell as cost-effectiveness. This article outlines how therecent innovations in SiC diodes now pave the way forbenchmark efficiency in a number of powerconversion solutions such as power factor correction inswitched mode power supplies used in computing,telecommunication, LCD-TV and lighting, as well assolar inverters and motor drives. Since system cost perwatt is typically not allowed to rise, increasing efficiencyputs tough demands on semiconductor and passivecomponent performance as well as topologyinnovation. Silicon Carbide (SiC) as an idealsemiconductor material for low loss power electronicshas been well known for several decades; however, ittook until 2001 to introduce first commercial SiCdevices into the market. The 2nd generationimplemented a bipolar boost function, which makesthe diode rugged towards over-current operations.What has now been realised for the 3rd generation isthe effective thermal coupling of the highly thermalconductive SiC material to the also highly thermalconductive copper leadframe without thick soldermaterials in-between, which act like a thermal barrier.With this 3rd generation, we took another big steptowards the ideal diode.Full story on page 24.

Cover supplied by Infineon Technologies AG

COVER STORY

PAGE 6

Market NewsPEE looks at the latest Market News and company

developments

PAGE 13

APEC 2009 - News inPower ConversionPower electronics is an innovative branch withnovelties in components, converters, topologies andfinally applications. From the huge number ofpresentations and papers given at APEC 2009 fromFebruary 15-19 in Washington DC, we have selectedsome which might be of interest to the Europeanmarket as well.

p03 Contents.qxd:p03 Contents 26/3/09 16:16 Page 3

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OPINION 5


Achim ScharfPEE Editor

A suitablequote as alead in to

the editorsopinion

Achim Scharf

Shakespeare’s adage,“Uneasy lies the headthat wears a crown,”was certainly true forthe kings of thesemiconductor industryin 2008, with eight out ofthe Top-10 supplierssuffering revenuedeclines for the year,according to marketresearcher iSuppli. Itsfinalranking of semiconductorsuppliers in 2008 revealsthat the majority of theindustry’s leading

companies not only saw sales declines - they alsounderperformed the overall chip industry for the year. It’s notalways good to be the king, as shown by the results of most of thetop semiconductor suppliers in 2008. Many of these suppliers arefocused on semiconductor segments that performed poorly duringthe year, including memory, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs),analog Integrated Circuits (ICs) and standard logic. This caused80% of the Top-10 and 60% of the Top-25 semiconductorsuppliers to experience declining revenues, compared to 2007.Among the nearly 300 companies covered in iSuppli’s globalsemiconductor rankings, 43% were able to achieve flat to positivegrowth during 2008, showing that the Top-10 supplierssignificantly underperformed their smaller rivals.

iSuppli’s final estimate of a 5.2% decline in 2008semiconductor revenue represented a significant widening fromthe 2% decrease it projected in November. The performances ofmany semiconductor suppliers also came in below expectations.In iSuppli’s November estimate, fourth-quarter semiconductorrevenue was projected to decline by 8.8%, compared to thethird quarter, based on guidance provided by semiconductorsuppliers in reporting their quarterly financial results. However,the final results show that the market experienced a significantand broad-based decline of 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Whilememory IC revenues struggled with negative growth for anextended period, the market decline in the fourth quarterimpacted every semiconductor segment - without exception.

The semiconductor segments suffering the deepest declines inthe fourth quarter were Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), NORflash memory and application-specific analog ICs. These areassaw their revenues fall by between 25 to 28% in the fourthquarter. The products in these areas, along with DRAM, NANDFlash, Display Drivers and Standard Logic ICs, also suffered thelargest percentage revenue declines for the full year of 2008 ofall semiconductor segments. Results for the full year 2008 showthat optical components, standard linear ICs, programmable logicdevices, microprocessors and sensors/actuators were the onlymajor semiconductor market segments to achieve growth, withtheir revenues increasing between 1 and 6%. Wiredcommunications and industrial electronics were the only end-

market segments to see increased revenues for 2008 withgrowth between 2 and 3% for the full year.

Also, power semiconductor discrete and module revenues arenow forecast by IMS to drop by almost $2 billion in 2009.Unsurprisingly, power MOSFETs and protected MOSFETs areprojected to see greatest percentage fall, each worse than 20%year on year. The power semiconductor market, estimated tohave dropped by 2% in 2008, will plummet even further in2009. Power discrete revenues are not now envisaged torecover to 2007 levels until 2012. The power discrete market isexpected to drop by over $1.5 billion in 2009; the automotive,computer & office and consumer sectors will account for 60% ofthis. The market, in particular the automotive and consumersegments, have yet to bottom out; consumer confidence is stillfalling because of job uncertainty, and difficulties in obtainingaccess to credit has delayed larger purchases. Power modulerevenues are now forecast to fall by up to 10% in 2009; thosefrom sales to industrial motor drives, UPS, and the consumersector are all expected to fall by over 10%. However, all is notbad; power module revenues are expected to recover andexceed the 2008 value, $2.7 billion, in 2010. Power modulerevenues to the renewable sector will retain the wind in theirsails to almost double from 2008 to 2012.

In spite of the current economic situation and short-term trends,at global level a number of key challenges remain and are drivingchange for the future, namely limited resources and the need toreduce both waste and emissions. “The power and energy sectorhas never been as important as it is today, and this is leading topromising opportunities for engineers. In a nutshell, we expect thatthe greatest part of renewable energy ressources will beinterconnected to and go through at least one stage of powerelectronic conversion. In this context, there are three essentialtopics which should be at the forefront of our minds, namely‘efficiency’, ‘reliability’ and ‘costs’,“ explains Prof. Alfred Rufer, GeneralConference Director PCIM Europe. “The demand for energyefficient converters is driving development in topology, andespecially in semiconductor devices and passives. The same driversapply to reliability and costs. Therefore, the two principal impulsesin R&D are evolution and an increase in performance“. In otherwords, these are exciting times for power electronics, withtechnological breakthroughs at the horizon, namely silicon carbide(SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) for power semiconductors. Here,Power Electronics Europe is on the forefront by organising andchairing a session on ‘Wide Bandgap Materials and Devices’, to beheld on Wednesday (May 13, 10.00-12.00, Room Paris). Thebottom line can be summarised that diodes with almost no reverserecovery losses are here, and switches are already in sampling.That’s what the power electronics designer is waiting for, a pairingof quasi loss-less switch (JFET, MOSFET) and freewheeling diode.

See our cover story and learn about the advances in SiC and, ofcourse, visit PCIM 2009 and attend our Special Session. We’resure you will enjoy it. Look for more details on the following pages.

Achim ScharfPEE Editor

Tough Times Also for Power Electronics

p05 Opinion.qxd:p05 Opinion 26/3/09 16:12 Page 5

Design flexibility, weight reductionand fuel savings will be the maincatalysts implementing ECMs.“Enhanced design flexibility andadditional space due to the absenceof the transmission and engine willboost the adoption of ECMs”, notesAnalyst Vijayendra Rao. ”Theimplementation of ECM will also actas a product differentiator for OEMsto showcase their technologicalexpertise”. With the electric motorsbeing integrated within the wheels,there is no additional drive forcerequired to drive the vehicle. Thus, itwill eliminate the need forconventional engine, transmission,differential and other powertraincomponents.

The removal of powertraincomponents will not only create extraspace, but will also reduce the overallcurb weight of the vehicle and furtherincrease the fuel savings. “By-wiretechnologies will be required toimplement in-wheel motors on allfour wheels. Also, OEMs’ preferencefor centralised motors over in-wheelmotors will pose a major challenge tothe implementation of ECMs”,remarks Rao.

The installation of in-wheel motorson all four wheels will require by-wire technologies such as steer-by-wire, brake-by-wire and suspension-by-wire due to higher voltagerequirements, and also respectivepower electronics. European OEMsprefer centralised electric motors toin-wheel motors due to their simplerarchitecture. This will create a strongchallenge for the market entry andthe growth of in-wheel motors,particularly in the European market.Motor, chassis and tyre suppliers willhave to work closely to ensure thewidespread uptake of ECMs.Moreover, ECM suppliers shouldtarget OEMs who have strongproduct portfolios in terms of hybridsand electric vehicles. Furthermore,ECM implementation requires

expertise in electric motors, steering,suspension, braking, powerelectronics and tyre areas. Hence,different suppliers have to workclosely with OEMs to promote theadoption of ECMs.

One of these OEMs is e-Traction,established in 1981 Apeldoorn, theNetherlands. The companyspecialises in developing andengineering prototypes of all kind ofvehicles for different customers.Heinen made a remarkablediscovery which led to thedevelopment of TheWheel, for whichpatents where granted. Based on thepatents, a new challenge was takenon: the design of an ultra-efficientcity bus featuring TheWheel astraction component. After severalprototypes ‘TheWhisper’ has evolved

into a viable technology whichmakes vehicles travel twice as farwith the same fuel consumption.City buses, equipped with TheWheel,will appear in actual service for thefirst time in 2009 in the cities ofApeldoorn and Rotterdam. E-Tractionis currently designing more types ofTheWheel to improve the fuelconsumption of SUVs, lorries andother vehicles, such as a passengercar as well. “The e-Traction systemhas been one of its kind forapplication in commercial vehicles interms of in-wheel direct drive motortechnology for use in conventionaland hybrid vehicles. It has a productdevelopment lead time of at leastthree to five years over itscompetitors and is well positioned tobe a major particpant in in-wheel

direct drive motor technology”, Raosaid.

The Hytruck i.e. is equipped withtwo e-Traction TheWheel SM500/1motors, capable of propelling thevehicle to speeds up to 85km/h athigh carrying loads, while maintaininglow energy consumption. Under thedrivers cabin, two Hydrogen powergenerators are installed, with 8kWeach. To ensure the driver hasenough torque, the vehicle isinstalled with on-board Li-ionbatteries which feed the motorsenough energy during acceleration.At normal use, this battery capacitydoes not have to be recharged, thusminimising infrastructural costs.

www.automotive.frost.com,www.e-traction.nl

European Electric Corner ModulesMarket Powered by (H)EVs

The Hytruck is equipped with two in-wheel motors, capable of propelling thevehicle to speeds up to 85km/hSource: e-Traction

6 MARKET NEWS

Issue 3 2009 Power Electronics Europe

Frost & Sullivan’s latest Strategic Analysis of the European Market for Electric Corner Modules (ECMs) findsthat the global market size will be around one million units by 2020. Suppliers, rather than vehiclemanufacturers (VMs), will promote the market for ECMs.

p06-11 Market News.qxd:New Market News Template 26/3/09 12:32 Page 6

http://www.automotive.frost.com

http://www.e-traction.nl


Positive growth in the utilities, food & beverage, chemicals &petroleum, and renewable energy industries is expected to offsetdeclines in the metal processing, mining, textiles and commercialHVAC industries. “Growth of critical industry sectors, gouvernmentlegislation and stimulus packages will provide abundantopportunities for the low voltage motor drives market to comethrough the recession with positive growth“; IMS Research AnalystJenalea Howel stated. Lead by infrastructure expansion in Chinaand India, the Asia Pacific motor drives market experienced thelargest amount of growth in 2007, and was the second largestregional market after EMEA. Valued at nearly $2.4 billion, the drivesmarket in Asia Pacific is expected to continue growing at the fastestrate over the next five years. However, difficult economic conditionsaround the globe will slow growth across all regions, with mostimpact felt in the drives markets in the Americas and Japan. Thesuccess of recently introduced gouvernment stimulus packages willdetermine the severity of the market downturn.But power semiconductor discrete and module revenues are

now forecast to drop by almost $2 billion in 2009. Unsurprisingly,power MOSFETs and protected MOSFETs are projected to see

greatest percentage fall, each worse than 20% year on year. Thepower semiconductor market, estimated to have dropped by 2%in 2008, will plummet even further in 2009. Power discreterevenues are not now envisaged to recover to 2007 levels until2012. “The power discrete market is expected to drop by over $1.5billion in 2009; the automotive, computer & office and consumersectors will account for 60% of this”, Analyst Josh Flood believes.“The market, in particular the automotive and consumersegments, has yet to bottom out; consumer confidence is stillfalling because of job uncertainty and difficulties in obtainingaccess to credit has delayed larger purchases”. Power modulerevenues are now forecast to fall by up to 10% in 2009; thosefrom sales to industrial motor drives, UPS, and the consumersector are all expected to fall by over 10%. However, all is notbad; power module revenues are expected to recover and exceedthe 2008 value, $2.7 billion, in 2010. Power module revenues tothe renewable sector will retain the wind in their sails to almostdouble from 2008 to 2012.

www.imsresearch.com

Low VoltageMotor DrivesMarketExpected to GrowDuring Downturn

8 MARKET NEWS


Autonomous Solar Panels

High energy prices and an increased focus on energy efficiency will maintain positive growth of marketrevenues, which are expected to increase by an average annual rate of 10% throughout the forecastperiod to reach an estimated value of $13 billion by 2012.

Enerqos plc, a leading photovoltaicsystem and solar power plantconstruction company recently

introduced a new Solar Totemtracker. With dual-axis handling and aremote control operating system, the

Solar Totem is one of the mostadvanced tracking systems available.A single Totem is managed by a

programmable logic controller and istherefore autonomous. The tracker isoperated by remote control, and isconnected to the Internet. Therefore,automatic updates can be acquiredand maintenance can be performedremotely including modification ofthe operating programme. The trackeralso features a real-time ‘solar’ clock,enabling optimal positioning of boththe azimuth/horizontal and tilt axes.Using this method makes it possibleto track the sun’s movement acrossthe sky, to ensure that theconcentrated sunlight is directed tothe panels. “As soon as it is mounted,the Solar Totem presents conclusiveadvantages, thanks to its groundanchor system which has beaten all

previous records. We will certainlycontinue to use it in our forthcomingpower plant installation projectsthroughout Europe”, Enerqos’ StefanoGoracci said. The tracker flat-plate isnot continuous, but divided byintersections at regular intervals,giving it a segmented structure.Therefore, any strain on the flat-platecaused by the weight of the panels isabsorbed and the structure itself isprotected from the effects of wind,preventing the photovoltaic panelsbecoming cracked or displaced.Enerqos is one of Italy’s largest

turnkey suppliers of solar systemsand plants. The company was createdtwo years ago by a group ofmanagers with relevant internationalexperience, and has succeeded inestablishing itself as a key player inthe solar parks and PV systemsindustry in Europe.

www.enerqos.comPLC managed solar totem tracker followsthe sun Source: Enerqos


http://www.imsresearch.com

http://www.enerqos.com

Innovation never stops

12 — 14 May 2009PCIM NurembergHall 12, Stand 408

ABB Switzerland Ltd SemiconductorsTel: +41 58 586 1419 www.abb.com/semiconductors

Power and productivityfor a better world“

Powerfulfrom SPT to SPT+


http://www.abb.com/semiconductors

10 MARKET NEWS


“As leading industry suppliers, we aredeliberately targeting energy-efficientand cost-effective innovations whichpermit our customers to achieve anearly return on investment”, statedKlaus Helmrich, CEO of the SiemensDrive Technologies Division, prior tothe Hanover Fair 2009. Against thebackdrop of declining greenfieldbusiness, it is efficiency, flexibility andreliability of existing plants whichhave gained in importance. “Here,economical operations go hand inhand with environmental protectionusing green solutions”, added JensWegmann, CEO of Siemens IndustrySolutions. “In a large number ofmodernisation projects, they help ussave more than three quarters of thecost of energy”.Roughly 50% of the overall power

consumption in developed countriesis used in industry, over two thirds ofwhich is consumed by electric drivesystems. “Energy savings in anindustrial environment can make asignificant contribution towardsincreasing competitiveness for ourcustomers. In this way they provide

the assurance of a sustainablyprofitable, environmentallyresponsible and future-proofinvestment. We estimate that theuse of variable-speed drives andhighly efficient motors couldgenerate global savings of 120 terra-watt hours”, mentioned Helmrich inconnection with increasinglystringent legislation on energyefficiency. And here, inverters with ahuge amount of power electronicsare used.In its industry business, Siemens

places the emphasis on shortpayback periods on customerinvestment, taking into account thetotality of costs across the entire lifecycle. “Payback for the majority ofour new drive systems is less than18 months“, Helmrich expects. Notonly the rising costs of energy, butthe shortage of natural resources,ever stricter environmentallegislation, and also the currenteconomic climate provides a goodopportunity to drive SiemensIndustry Solutions forward. Besidesdrives, it is also control systems that

contribute towards energy efficiency;they ensure that power is only usedwhere it is actually needed. Whileindividual energy-efficient productscan make a considerablecontribution to reducing energyconsumption, only a smartcombination of these systems from

planning through to operation withinthe framework of Totally IntegratedAutomation can effectively leveragethis potential”, stated Ralf-MichaelFranke, CEO of Industrial AutomationSystems.

www.siemens.com/industry

Energy Efficient Solutions atHanover Fair

“Roughly 50% of the overall powerconsumption in developed countries isused in industry, over two thirds of whichis consumed by electric drive systems,and here we see huge saving potentialthrough inverterised drives“, Siemens’Klaus Helmrich stated

Siemens views the current economic environment as a good opportunity to increase its market share inindustrial equipment and solutions. In times of changing economic conditions especially, industrialcompanies expect systematic solutions that help cut costs ,while also securing their investment.

SolarMagic Recoups Over 50%ofSolar Power Lost Due to ShadeTest results reveal that National Semiconductor’s SolarMagic poweroptimisers improve the energy harvesting of solar panels in realworld conditions, where shading and other issues can significantlyreduce the performance of solar systems.In tests conducted at National’s Santa Clara facility, a screen

representing typical rooftop obstructions shaded a portion of aconventionally wired solar PV system. Although 8 to 16% of thearray was shaded over the course of a day, it resulted in averagepower losses of between 35 and 40%. However, an identical solararray fitted with SolarMagic power optimisers produced on averagebetween 30 and 37% more electricity in the same conditions —effectively recouping up to 57% of the lost power. The test arrayand the reference array were each comprised of two strings with 12

PV panels per string. Both strings were attached to a Xantrex GT5.0-NA-240/208 inverter. The performance data was collected usingXantrex’s software, and had a measuring accuracy of 5%. “This newtechnology tackles several problems that have long faced rooftop PVsystems, shading and panel mismatch, and provides a viablesolution to commercial customers and homeowners worldwide“,said Ralf Muenster, director of National Semiconductor’s RenewableEnergy Segment. “Because of the characteristics of solar modules,shading can lead to disproportionate power losses. For example,shading of less than 10% of the surface of a solar panel can slashpower output in half“.

www.national.com


http://www.siemens.com/industry

http://www.national.com

The embedded AC/DC power supply market will grow at a rate of5% in 2009. Fuelled by the emergence of LED Solid-State Lighting(SSL) as a major application area, the embedded AC/DC powersupply market is projected to realise immediate growth.In fact, it is expected to continue growing, increasing from $15

billion in 2009 to $20 billion in 2014. “The rapid emergence of SSLapplications into the embedded AC/DC market represents asignificant development for the industry, as it presents power supplymanufacturers with an opportunity to capture a portion of theanticipated market growth expected this year”, stated Richard Ruiz,Analyst with Darnell. “Without the $2 billion SSL segment, thetraditional ‘core’ power supply applications would shrink to $13billion in 2009”, he said. Combined with ongoing developments inadvanced components and new markets for AC/DC power, theopportunities for power supply manufacturers should be plentiful inthe long run. However, Ruiz does not expect consistent growth overthe next five years. Projected growth will be significantly slower over

the next two years before returning to normal. The effect of theslowdown on growth will vary by category. Some applications areexpected to be seriously impacted; other applications will be onlyslightly affected, while others are expected to remain unchanged.

www.darnell.com

AC/DC Growth Opportunities in 2009

MARKET NEWS 11

AC/DC marketshift due toimpact of solid-state lighting(SSL)Source: Darnell

28, April 2009Austin Court, Birmingham, UK

Power Electronics 2009: Connecting to

Future Energy aims to address the issues

facing those involved in the

implementation of electronics in the

energy industry, connecting renewable

energy to the grid, ensuring power quality

and reliability, and providing an overview of

the UK funding environment. OOuurr

iinntteerrnnaattiioonnaall lliinnee--uupp ooff ssppeeaakkeerrss iinncclluuddeess;;

- Peter Vaessen, Principal Consultant Future

Energy Systems, KKEEMMAA CCoonnssuullttiinngg,

Netherlands

- Søren Plagborg, Vice President of

Technology, VVEESSTTAASS, Denmark

- Thomas Ackermann, CEO, EEnneerrggyynnaauuttiiccss

GGmmbbHH, Sweden

- Roger Critchley, Head of Power

Electronics, AARREEVVAA, UK

- Peter Jones, Head of Technology, AABBBB, UK

- Paul Newman, Managing Director,

SSeemmiikkrroonn LLttdd, UK

- Nick Appleyard, Lead Technologist,

TTeecchhnnoollooggyy SSttrraatteeggyy BBooaarrdd, UK

- Nick Hayward, Chief Engineer,

CCoonnvveerrtteeaamm, UK

Full information and registration options are

available at

www.theiet.org/power-electronics

Power Electronics 2009 – Connecting to Future Energy


http://www.darnell.com

http://www.theiet.org/power-electronics

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Power conversion technologyfor solar applications

Freescale demonstratedultra-low-voltage DC/DCconverter technology thatenables solar cell start-up atlevels as low as 0.32V as wellas operation down to 0.25V.Most ICs cannot start up atvoltages less than the typicalturn-on voltage of a transistor(approximately 0.7V) withoutexternal assistance. Thislimitation reduces systemdesign options and increasesthe complexity of powerconversion and energyrecovery applications involvingultra-low voltages.

“Our power conversiontechnology enables IC start-up thresholds to be reducedto 0.32V and efficiencies ofnearly 90%. This technologybreakthrough can enablepractical and cost-effectiveways to develop a wide rangeof single-cell solar powersystems and other energy-harvesting applications, suchas thermoelectric andmechanical scavengingsystems. Potentialapplications include solar-powered battery chargers,trickle chargers forautomotive systems, chargersfor cell phones and laptops,

remote data acquisition andindustrial HVAC systems, PV-based traffic signals, solar-powered home andcommercial lighting products,and self-poweredwirelesstransponders“, statedpresenter Kevin Parmenter.

With a low-cost single solarcell a Li-Ion battery cell at100mA can be charged.“Present charging systemsrequire multiple solar cells inseries, which drives up cost,reduces efficiency andincreases sensitivity toshading and cell mismatches.This is achieved through acombination of SMARTMOS 10130nm process, flip-chip onleadframe packaging andinnovative IC design“,Parmenter said.

Single-chip 5A DC/DCconverter

Fuji Electric DeviceTechnology presented asingle-chip DC/DC convertersuitable for high currentapplications such as poweringCPUs and field programablegate arrays (FPGAs).“Recently, large scale digitalcircuits, such as CPUs andFPGAs have required highcurrent, since the transistornumbers and frequency have

risen. They curtail theirconsumption power bydropping power supplyvoltage, yet consumptioncurrent is still increased. Forthe high current applicationlow on-resistance of theoutput device is important“,presenter ShinichiroMatsunaga noted.

However, it is difficult tointegrate low on-resistancehigh voltage power deviceswith on-chip control circuits,since lateral devices usuallyhave higher on-resistance andhigher process costscompared to vertical powerdevices. Therefore, chip sizeand chip costs using lateralpower devices are increasedand impractical. On the otherhand, to integrate logiccircuits with vertical deviceshas some difficulties withdevice isolation. Therefore, atypical DC/DC converter forhigh output current employscontrol IC and discrete powerchip. Another solution is asingle packaged converter, aso-called Driver MOS(DrMOS). Driver circuit isadjusted, thus dead time andslew rate is optimised andhigh efficiency is possible.“We have developed single-chip Driver MOS and DC/DC

News in Power Conversion

Freescale’s Kevin Parmenter demonstrated a portable solar charging system for alithium ion battery, where meters show the conversion between input and outputvoltage (directly boosting 0.32 to 4V Photo: AS

Simplified schematic of Freescale’s low-voltage power conversion technology

APEC 2009 13


Power electronics is an innovative branch with novelties in components, converters, topologies and finallyapplications. From the huge number of presentations and papers given at APEC 2009 from February 15-19 in Washington DC, we have selected some which might be of interest to the European market as well.

p13-16 APEC Report 2.qxd:New Market News Template 26/3/09 12:00 Page 13

14 APEC 2009


buck converter with high-sideN-channel Trench LateralPower MOSFET with muchsmaller chip size thanconventional devices“. ThisTLPM has low specific on-resistances and ease offabrication with CDMOSdevices.Thanks to the large TLPM

area device, less than 20mΩof total on-resistance (includewire resistance) is achieved.The driver circuit is integratedinside the same chip, soprecise timing control forparallel chips is possible.Therefore, for the large outputcurrent application, parallelchip construction is feasibleand desirable. “The TLPMs aresuitable for large currentapplication. The control circuitfor DC/DC converter issuccessfully integrated withpower devices, and achieveshigh-side n-channeloperation. Compared topublished converters with pn-channel output devices, chipsize can be smaller“,Matsunaga concluded.

VHF DC/DC ConversionDesigners of power

conversion circuits are underrelentless pressure to increasepower density whilemaintaining high efficiency. “Aprimary path to higher powerdensity is the use of increasedswitching frequency. It isargued that the use ofswitching frequencies in theVHF band from 30MHz to300MHz are a viable path tothe achievement ofsubstantive gains in powerdensity. Evidence for thisviewpoint is presented in theform of an unregulated 900W

prototype DC/DC converterwith a 30MHz switchingfrequency, an input voltagerange of 270 to 330VDC, andan output voltage of 50VDC“,John S. Glaser from GeneralElectric’s Electronic PowerConversion Lab pointed out.This converter uses a quad

module architecture with seriesinput and parallel output toprovide acceptable efficiencywith the specified input voltagerange. It operates with peakoutput power of 1kW at330VDC input, and has anefficiency of >78% undernominal conditions, withmaximum efficiency near 80%.

DC/DC converters can, ingeneral, be modeled as aninverter which generates an ACpower signal, followed by arectifier and filter to convertthe AC power signal back toDC. In the VHF range, invertersand rectifiers employ softswitching for both turn-on andturn-off, so that switchinglosses are kept at acceptablelevels. The most commoninverter topologies used in theHF or VHF band are eitherbased on class D, E, or DEtopologies. Class E and DEtopologies are distinguished bythe use of resonant waveformsand switch transition timingsuch that all switchingtransitions are soft, and thatany anti-parallel diodes ofswitches do not conduct. Thelatter means that bidirectionalswitches are not required, andimplies the absence of reverserecovery losses. In Class DE,peak voltage stresses on theswitches are advantageouslylimited to the bus voltage, butdriving a high-side switch withthe precise timing required

becomes difficult as switchingfrequency and the bus voltageincreases. Class E avoids thehigh-side drive issue via theuse of a single-ended ground-referenced switch, but thetrade-off is high device voltagestress.The problem of high

transistor voltage stress isaddressed through the use ofthe EF2 topology in conjunctionwith a multi-module series-input/parallel-output scheme,allowing the use of commercialsilicon RF power MOSFETs.“While the efficiency andpower density of this prototypeis not directly competitive withpresent state of the art, it isshown that acceptableperformance can be obtained.It is my opinion that this isenough evidence on which topursue this path towards largeincreases in power density“,Glaser concluded.

Wireless driving of IGBTsIn power electronics

converters, the driving of anIGBT is a delicate point, due

Single-chip TLPMDC/DC converterSource: FujiElectric DeviceTechnology

Experimentalwireless IGBTdriver receiverwithout gatedriver which isclose to the IGBTSource: IREENA

Prototype of VHFfour-moduleDC/DC converterSource: GE


APEC 2009 15


to the need of a high degreeof insulation and highreliability. It is essential thatthe driver have galvanicisolated voltages. Thisconcerns the power supplydriver and the switch controlsignal (SCS). In most cases,the driving energy is realisedby a pulse transformer. In highpower high voltageapplication, the solutionadopted for the switch controlsignal is the optical fibre. Forharsh environments such asdust and water, it is essentialto avoid electrical contacts asfar as possible. The opticalfibre is very sensitive totemperature and vibration,which is problematic inrailway applications. For highvoltage applications, it is notpossible to use pulsetransformer. Thus, thetransmission of informationby wireless is an interestingsolution to the problemsencountered withconventional solutions,introduced by the FrenchInstitut de Recherche enElectrotechnique etElectronique de NantesAtlantique (IREENA).The electronic control

receives the duty cyclecompatible with a 5V CMOSlogic gate. This signal isapplied to the 2,4GHztransmitter. It is possible tochoose four different canals,with nearly carrier frequency,in order to control fewconverters. Reception is madewith a high bandwidthintegrated module and theanalogue transmitted signal isprovided with 1.5V offset. Inother words, magnitude andmean values of the controlsignal are modified and noiseappears. This is why filters,hysteresis comparator and 15VCMOS buffer are implementedbetween the receiver and thegate driver. The power supplyof the IGBT gate driver ismade with a push-pullconverter and a transformerwith high voltage insulation.Very low primary-secondaryparasitic capacitance isobtained with a toroidal core.

Therefore, a very low commonmode current flows betweenthe power and electroniccircuit (wireless transmissiondoesn’t generate it).Experimental tests on a 1kW

buck chopper have beenrealised. Current work is on thecoding of digital signals inorder to improve the reliabilityof data transmission. The nextphase will be to control twoswitches of a commutation cellby wireless transmission.

3D chip-on-chip hybridintegrationGrenoble Institute of

Technology presented a newgeneration of power modules,trying to optimise the trade-off between thermal and EMImanagement. At the sametime, the packaging approachis considered in order tosimplify the implementationof the power dies whileimproving the reliability ofthe structure. “The approachconsiders the hybridintegration of the power dies,one on top of the other into a3D configuration. Thanks tothis structure, the power diescan be directly inserted

within electrical plates, thewhole structure emulating abusbar like power module“,speaker Eric Vagnonexplained.The main goal of this

approach is the integration ofthe power dies inside a busbarlike 3D structure. Busbarinterconnects are well-knownfor their extremely low strayinductances. The integration ofpower devices directly within abus bar structure also offersthe opportunity to minimiseparasitic coupling within theswitching cell, but also amongswitching cells of a multi-phase converter.Soldering, bump or copper

bonding approaches can beused to assembly the wholestructure. However, the globalreliability of the module maybe reduced. This is animportant issue, since severallayers with various materialsare sandwiched together inthis approach. Such astructure, with variouscoefficient of thermalexpansion (CTE) could quicklyfail from excessive thermo-mecanical stresses. Therefore,another technique has been

considered for its higherreliability and robustness. It isbased on the low force presspack technique. This approachis interesting, since the powerdies are assembled one ontop of the other. Highpressure is obtained at lowforce, since the contactsurface is reduced comparedto classical planar andparalleled dies.Implementation is based on

the stack of various elements.The chips are packagedbetween two copper plates. Apolycarbonate footprint allowsthe positioning of the chip andthe molybdenum pin, all ofthem being inserted betweenthe copper plates. Molybdenumlayers are inserted on top ofthe dies. The quite similar CTEbetween molybdenum andsilicon increases therobustness of the pressurecontacts.The paper presented the

characteristics and the benefitsof the approach focusing onthe practical characterisationof two prototypes: a buckconverter structure and a fullbridge, single phase dioderectifier. Both of them are

Electrical circuitand side view ofthe CoC 3D buckconverterSource:GrenobleInstitute ofTechnology

Configuration ofan electricalvehicle withbattery bank andultra-capacitorusing a fourquadrant multipleinput DC/DCconverterSource: IllinoisInstitute of


16 APEC 2009


based on double sided thermalcooling and electro-thermalcontacts are obtained bypressure.The 400V-40A HF buck

converter prototype needs anordered switch and a diode.The implementation principleis based on the CoC concept,the gate contact is inserted inthe middle copper plate andcrosses the Molybdenum pin.The control path and the powerpath are deliberatelyseparated.

Converters for EV and PVThe Illinois Institute of

Technology (Electrical andComputer EngineeringDepartment) and AalborgUniversity, Denmark, jointlydeveloped a battery/ultra-capacitor based electricvehicle power system. “Bycombining battery bank andcapacitor tank, it is possibleto use a smaller battery withless peak-output powercapability. Therefore, the costwould decrease significantlyand the efficiency of theenergy sources wouldincrease. Generally, acompact, lightweight, efficientpower system is desired forelectrical vehicles“, presenterErik Schaltz pointed out.Battery and ultra-capacitor

are respectively connected asinputs to a common inductorthrough bi-directionalswitches (two parallel IGBTs).Due to different conductioncases of diodes and switches,the converter can be operatedin buck, boost and buck-boostmodes for both positive andnegative input power. If theinductor current is continuous,at least one switch or onediode is turned on all thetime. Diode is on only if all ofswitches are turned off. Ifmore than one switch isturned on at the same time,the inductor voltage equals tothe highest voltage of theinputs.The two input sources share

one common inductor. Thebattery bank is designed tosupply average demand powerof the vehicle; on the other

hand, ultra-capacitor banksupplies or recaptures the largebursts of power with highcharge rates. In this topology,only one input inductor isrequired, which significantlyreduces the cost and size ofthe whole system. Inputsources are effectivelycontrolled to deliver desiredpower levels to the loadquickly and accurately enough.Regenerative energy can beefficiently recaptured bybattery and ultra-capacitorduring braking periods. Theproposed topology is able tobe extended to applicationsusing other multi-sourceapplications.“An increasing interest in

alternative and renewableenergy creates a demand fornovel power conversionsystems, which interfacesdifferent energy source to aload or to a utility grid. Veryoften it’s necessary to boost alow voltage from photovoltaic

panels to a high voltagesuitable for an inverter. Therequired voltage gain mayexceed a factor of 20 in manycases. Such gain is attainablefor boost converter with SiCdiodes and CoolMOStransistors, but by a cost ofpoor semiconductorsutilisation and limitedefficiency“, stated PawelKlimczak, also from AalborgUniversity in his presentationon Boost Converter with Three-State Switching Cell andIntegrated Magnetics.Several topologies with a

coupled inductor can be foundin the literature, which offer ahigh voltage gain. The maindrawback among thesetopologies is large inputcurrent ripple, and such ripplesmay lead to photovoltaicmaximum power point trackingmismatch or to quickdegradation of a fuel cell. Forthese reasons, an additionalinput filter is required, but it

increases size, cost andcomplexity of the converter.Thus, a boost converter with athree-state switching cell andintegrated magnetic has beenpresented. The converter hasthe inductor and the push-pulltransformer arranged on astandard gapped EE core. Suchintegration allows using oftransformer primary windingsas a part of the inductorwinding; thus, smaller physicalinductance is required,resulting in smaller and lightercore. To verify the idea, a 300Wbreadboard was built andtested, exhibiting goodperformance.

AS

www.freescale.comwww.fujielectric.co.jpwww.research.ge.comwww.polytech.univ-nantes.fr/ireenawww.g2elab.inpg.frwww.ece.iit.eduwww.iet.aau.dk

Multi-input fourquadrant powerelectronicconverterschematicSource: IllinoisInstitute ofTechnology

Assembled 300W three-state switchingcell converter with integrated inductor-transformerSource: Aalborg University


http://www.freescale.com

http://www.fujielectric.co.jp

http://www.research.ge.com

http://www.polytech.univ-nantes.fr/ireena



http://www.g2elab.inpg.fr

http://www.ece.iit.edu

http://www.iet.aau.dk

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In spite of the current economicsituation and short-term trends, aglobal level a number of keychallenges remain and are drivingchange for the future, namely limitedresources and the need to reduceboth waste and emissions. “Thepower and energy sector has neverbeen as important as it is today, andthis is leading to promisingopportunities for engineers. In anutshell, we expect that the greatestpart of renewable energy ressourceswill be interconnected to and gothrough at least one stage of powerelectronic conversion. In this context,there are three essential topics whichshould be at the forefront of ourminds, namely ‘efficiency’, ‘reliability’and costs“, explains Prof. Alfred Ruferfrom EPFL/Switzerland, General

Conference Director PCIM Europe.“The demand for energy efficientconverters is driving development intopology and especially insemiconductor devices and passives.The same drivers apply to reliabilityand costs. Therefore, the two principalimpulses in R&D are evolution and anincrease in performance“.

In other words, these are excitingtimes for power electronics, withtechnological breakthroughs on thehorizon, namely silicon carbide (SiC)and gallium nitride (GaN) for powersemiconductors. Here, PowerElectronics Europe is at the forefrontby organising and chairing a sessionon ‘Wide Bandgap Materials andDevices’ to be held on Wednesday(May 13, 10.00-12.00, Room Paris).We have invited speakers from wellrecognised companies such as Cree,Infineon Technologies, InternationalRectifier and Mitsubishi Electric topresent their view on ongoinginnovations in these powersemiconductor materials anddevices. The bottom line can besummarised that diodes with almostno reverse recovery losses are here,and switches are already in sampling.That’s what the power electronicsdesigner is waiting for - a pair ofquasi loss-less switch (JFET,MOSFET) and freewheeling diode.

Thus, Power Electronics is by farthe main part of PCIM 2009, since itcovers 15 of the total 23 sessions.“And the main session within PowerElectronics is the subject WideBandgap Materials and Devices,followed by Multilevel Converters andDie Temperature Measuring“, addedPE Co-Chair Uwe Scheuermann.

We are also proud to hand overfor the second time the Best Paper

Award at the PCIM 2009 openingceremony. The awardee will beinvited to participate at PCIM China2010 including flight andaccomodation. The cost of this issponsored by Power ElectronicsEurope. Another highlight of theopening ceremony will be thehandover of three Young EngineerAwards at Euro 1000 each, given forthe best papers of young authorsand sponsored by the EuropeanCenter for Power Electronics (ECPE),Infineon Technologies, andInternational Rectifier.

Efficiency of photovoltaicinverters

The conference starts with akeynote on ‘Efficiency and GridCompatibility of PhotovoltaicInverters – State of the Art and

Future Trends’ given by AndreasFalk, SMA Solar Technologie AG inGermany.

Solar energy will be one pillar ofthe energy supply of the future. Grid-connected photovoltaic systems will,thus, generate more than 10% ofthe electrical energy by 2020. Dueto the peak power and decentralnature of PV energy, a large amountof PV power can be easily integratedinto the grid without costly measureslike additional power lines. However,in future power supply networksrenewable energy sources must beintegrated into the grid control.Consequently, solar inverters mustbe able to contribute to stabilizingand supporting the grid. In order toachieve the 10% share of electricalenergy, costs of PV energy mustdecrease significantly within the nextdecade. One approach for pricereduction is highest efficiency.Therefore, increasing efficiency is aconstant challenge in the field of PVinverter development. The progressfrom design to efficiency (includingSiC components) and other trends inPV inverters are pointed out in thiskeynote.

Devices for Efficient ConvertersThe first session on Tuesday (May

12) 11.00-13.00 will cover thissubject with four papers.

Alexander Ciliox, InfineonTechnologies (Germany), will talk‘On the Loss - Softness Trade-Off:Are Different Chip Versions Neededfor Softness-Improvement?’ Howdoes inductance affect the switchinglosses of an IGBT module, andwhich role plays the design of thepower semiconductors under this

Efficiency is the Name ofthe Game

“The main session within Power Electronicsis the subject Wide Bandgap Materials andDevices, followed by Multilevel Convertersand Die Temperature Measuring“, addedPE Co-Chair Uwe Scheuermann

“The demand for energy efficient convertersis driving development in topology andespecially in semiconductor devices andpassives“, expects Prof. Alfred Rufer,General Conference Director PCIM Europe

APEC 2009 will be followed by the main European power electronics eventPCIM. Despite the crisis in the financial sector, PCIM 2009 from May 11 – 14in Nuremberg looks quite healthy with 260 exhibitors and 6500 visitorsexpected. The conference will see about 600 delegates and will be openedon Tuesday May 12 at 9.00 with a welcome address as usual. But thelandscape has changed; business today and over the remaining year will notbe as usual.

p18-23 PCIM Report.qxd:New Market News Template 26/3/09 16:39 Page 18

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aspect? The stray inductanceinfluences the total switching lossesand also the snap-off behaviour ofIGBT modules. The paper will review,how the switching losses can beoptimised by a suitable design andcomponent selection. In addition tothe influence of the stray inductanceon the loss distribution, there is alsoan interaction between theinductance, or better, the overvoltageresulting from it, and the design ofthe semiconductor for what concernsthe softness. The same overvoltagecauses different snap-off behaviourdepending on the design of thesemiconductor device. In order toavoid the snap-off effect, a smallerstray inductance must be used or acomponent must be selected whichhas a larger charge carrier reservoir.With its newest 1200V IGBTgeneration, Infineon offers threedifferent variants. These devicesfollow a loss to softness trade-off,which can be qualitatively describedby low switching losses - small chargecarrier reservoirs.Yong Ang, Diodes Incorporated

(UK) has entitled his paper ‘SuperBarrier Rectifier Diodes Offer High-Performance and High-Reliability inLow Voltage Applications’. Incomparison with existingtechnologies, Schottky diodes areattractive to power electronicsapplications and are the dominanttechnology below 150V. This is dueto the fact that Schottky diodespossess low forward drop and smallreverse recovery time ideal for highfrequency application. However,compared with p-n junction diodes,Schottky diodes have relatively highlevels of leakage current in the off-state, which increases exponentiallywith the applied bias due to theimage charge potential barrierlowering. Consequently, Schottkydiodes rapidly loose theirperformance and reliability atelevated temperature and arereplaced by p-n diodes at highervoltage. However, being a minoritycarrier device, the p-n diodes havelarger reverse recovery time thanSchottky diodes. Lifetime controlmethods can be used to reducerecovery time of p-n diodes, but atthe expense of increasing theirforward voltage. The Super BarrierRectifier (SBR) overcomes the issuesidentified with Schottky and p-njunction diodes by using a MOSwithin its structure that forms a lowpotential barrier for majority carriers.

Therefore SBR’s forward biasoperation at low voltage are similar toSchottky diodes.

Michael Heeb, University of Kassel(Germany) has investigated the‘Carrier Transit Time Approximation forPrediction of PETT Oscillation inPower Diodes’. Under specialconditions during the turn-off-phase ofa high power semiconductor, highfrequency oscillations can appear.They spread out into the close vicinityof the device and possibly cause EMCdisturbances. One potential type ofhigh frequency oscillation is known asthe Plasma Extraction Transit Time(PETT) effect occurring within the tailphase. There are several means toavoid these electromagneticdisturbances and first models topredict the oscillation frequencies bythe behaviour of charge carriers in thesemiconductor are reported. In thiswork, a refined model for theprediction of the oscillation frequencyis presented, combined with extensiveexperimental findingsthat support the theoreticalapproach.Richard Fassler, Power

Integrations (USA) explores theefficiency standards with the paper

‘Navigating the Maze of WorldwideEnergy Efficiency Standards forEnergy using Products (EuP)‘. Sincethe discovery in the late 1990s thatup to 10% of electricity consumedby EuP was wasted while theproducts were supposedly ‘turnedoff’ but actually weren’t,governments have developedprograms to make consumer andcommercial electronic productsmore efficient. This drive for reducedpower consumption has movedenergy efficiency from being asecondary concern to the top tier ofa new product’s design objectives.Power supply designers must nowbe knowledgeable in current andfuture specifications and standardsfor not only their power supplies,but also should understand therequirements for the end productsthat their power supplies power.

Innovative Power Convertersare the subject of the parallel

session on Tuesday 11.00-13.00.

Bogdan Bucheru, Delta EnergySystems (USA) will introduce ‘AFamily of High Efficiency VariableFrequency Soft-Switching Off-Line

DC-DC Converters’. DC-DCconverters with high efficiency andhigh power density are increasinglyrequired in computer, TELECOM andadapter applications. The classicalapproach in computer applicationrequires two step-down stages, firstfrom 400 to 48V and the secondfrom 48 to 12V. The overall cost ishigh and the efficiency of the systemis low. A single 400V to 12V stagecan improve efficiency and reducethe cost, as long as it can deliver thepower directly to the load. Therefore,it can be very compact and flexible.While resonant converters are usedwith good results in someapplications, the high powerapplications require higher efficiencysingle stage and more simplecontrol. New avenues in soft-switching PWM are explored. Theshaping of the transformer currentcan result in the elimination of thehard-switching. One of the mostcommon solutions is to increase themagnetizing current in transformerover the level of the reflected outputcurrent, using the magnetizingenergy to achieve soft-switching inprimary side. The proposed solutionachieves output voltage regulation by

About 600delegates areexpected for thePCIM 2009conference, to beheld from May 12-14 in Nuremberg


22 PCIM 2009


adding current shaping inductors insecondary side and variablefrequency control.

Daniel Siemaszko, EPFL (CH)will talk about ‘Investigations on a1kVA Reactive Power CompensatedCurrent Converter Using MonolithicRB-IGBT Modules’. This workpresents a current convertertopology with an added free-wheeling path on the output load.This converter allows thecompensation of the reactive powerconsumption by forcing the inputcurrent fundamental component tobe in phase with the input voltage.Two basic input filters areinvestigated and an experimentalcomparison is proposed. The matrixtype RLC input filter allows theconverter to be run in a pulsedmode, whereas the RC type filterallows a natural snubbing for reverserecovery effects of the free-wheelingswitch. An experimental comparisonof the switching losses of a RB-IGBTmodule and a conventional IGBT isgiven as a conclusion.

Satoshi Miyawaki, NagaokaUniversity of Technology (Japan) willpresent ‘High Efficiency IsolatedDC/DC Converter Using Series VoltageCompensation’. A new circuit topologyis proposed for a high efficiencyisolated buck-boost DC/DC converter.The proposed converter consists of ahigh efficiency resonance half-bridgeconverter and a series converter. Theproposed circuit regulates the outputvoltage by the series converter, whichprovides only differential voltagebetween the input voltage and outputvoltage. The validity of the proposedcircuit was confirmed by experimentand loss analysis, with a maximumefficiency of 95.8%.

Yasuyuki Nishida, NihonUniversity (Japan) will introduce a‘Family of 3-Phase Diode-Bridge 12-Pulse Rectifier and Modified Topologyto Obtain 24-Pulse Nature’. Theordinary/traditional 3-phase 12-pulserectifier consists of two 3-phase-bridge 6-pulse rectifiers and a phase-sifting device such as a 3-phaseisolation transformer. The DC and theAC sides of the two 3-phase-bridgescan be connected in parallel or series,respectively, and both the Capacitor-Input-Type (CIT) and Inductor(Choke)-Input-Type (IIT) are applicable. So, intheory, there can be eight topologiesin the ordinary 12-pulse rectifierdepending on the DC connection, ACconnection and the type of the 3-phase bridge (i.e., CIT or IIT). To

reduce the size, weight and cost ofthe traditional 12-pulse rectifiertopologies with an isolationtransformer (Full-Isolation-Type), theisolation for one of the 3-phase bridgecan be omitted (Semi-Isolationscheme). Practicability of the Semi-Isolation-Type 12-pulse rectifier family,consisting of 8 different topologies, isstudied. Then, combination of eachthe family member rectifier and apulse-doubling auxiliary circuit toobtain 24-pulse nature are partiallyexplored.

Power Electronics in EnergyGeneration

are the subject of another sessionon Tuesday 11.00-13.00.

Alvaro Llaria, ESTIA (France) willtalk about ‘Microgrids: A Survey onTechnology and Operation’. Thespecial features of microgrids (MG),such as islanding or the use ofrenewable electrical sourcesconstitutes a new interestingparadigm in electrical networks,whose operation must be optimized.This paper presents a survey in MG’stechnologies and operation, focusedin their architecture, kinds of MG,regulation and management systemsand, specially, the islanding. The aimof the paper is to study the state ofthe art and the problems that mustbe resolved in order to spread theuse of MG.

Igor Merfert, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg (Germany) willcompare ‘State-Space andConventional Control in SeamlessBidirectional Converters in Fuel CellApplications’. This paper presents theimplementation of two differentcontrol methods, the state-space andthe conventional control, in aseamless bidirectional full bridgeconverter for fuel cell applications.Both control methods are comparedin simulations and measurements.The differences between a seamlessbidirectional operation and a two-way(buck or boost mode) operation areshown.

Thilo Bocklisch, ChemnitzUniversity of Technology (Germany)will introduce a ‘Control-Oriented,Optimizing Energy ManagementConcept for Fuel Cell Hybrid Systems’.A control-oriented, efficiency andlifetime optimizing managementconcept for fuel cell hybrid systems ispresented. The optimization problemis split into ‘Primary control’ of voltageand power flows, ‘Secondary control’

to limit power gradients andoperating range and to performcharge control, and ‘Energymanagement’ to optimally adjustsecondary control parametersapplying optimization strategies andtime-series models. Results fromsimulations and experimentalinvestigations are presented.

New IGBT Moduleswill be introduced on Tuesday

14.00-16.00.

Ralf Herrmann, Semikron(Germany) introduces the new SKiiPIPM generation. SKiiP4 includesnewest chip technology combinedwith a 100% solder-free assemblyand additionally a digital drivertechnology for a secure signaltransmission. For a new module, it isessential to choose the rightcombination of IGBT and diodes.Owing to the high temperaturerequirements, IGBT4 technologyfrom Infineon and CAL4 fromSEMIRKON is used in 1200Vmodules. For the 1700V modules, amodified IGBT3 and the recentlydeveloped CAL4 is used. All fourchip technologies provide amaximum junction temperature of175°C, which allows high overloadcurrents and even a higher powerdensity than SKiiP3. For example a 4-fold SkiiP4 (AL2O3 ceramic, 1200Vblocking voltage, liquid cooling)reaches up to 1950A Irms. Theincrease of the power density is upto 25%.

Taketo Nishiyama, MitsubishiElectric Corporation (Japan) willdisclose details on ‘The IGBTModule with 6th GenerationIGBT’. The new NX series hashigher efficiency than theconventional series, because it canuse the 6th generation IGBTTechnology and a new diode. It isbased on the new concept of CSTB.The performance of 6th generationIGBT is improved by narrowing thetrench pitch of the unit cell usingfine pattern technology andoptimizing the doping profile of theCS-layer.

Uwe Jansen, InfineonTechnologies (Germany) willintroduce ‘IGBT Power ModulesUtilizing New 650V IGBT3 andEmitter Controlled Diode3 Chipsfor Three Level Converter’. Thesame characteristics as 600VIGBT3 and Emitter Controlled3chips have been kept and 50V

more blocking-voltage is realized.Utilizing these chips, this paperalso introduced the newlydeveloped power modulesdedicated for three level NPCtopology based inverters. The firstapplications benefit from the newchips and power modules will beUPS and photovoltaic.

Thomas Radke, MitsubishiElectric Europe (Germany) willcover ‘A Family of 3-Level IGBTModules from 25A to 600AEquipped with Trench Gate IGBTand their Thermal Performanceunder Typical Conditions for UPSand PV Inverter Operation’. 3-leveltechnology was originallydeveloped for high powerapplications in order to overcomethe limited blocking voltagecapability of semiconductor devices.With the development of 6,5kVIGBT this circuit requirement hasvanished in principle. Today’srenaissance of the 3-level topologyis a result of a topology inherentadvantage of switching loss versusDC-loss which can be used tooptimize the overall efficiency ofthe equipment and a reduction ofthe output filter size at the sametime. Covering a wide range ofinverter power a family of 3-levelIGBT modules has been developedto address inverter’s needs forcompactness, efficiency, lowinternal inductance and highreliability. The internal layout, thepower chips and the thermal profilein a sample module has beenmonitored by thermography andbaseplate temperature sensorunder varying load and powerfactor.

Special Applicationswill be covered in a parallel session

on the Tuesday 14.00-16.00.

Peter Bredemeier, InternationalRectifier (Germany) talks about ‘ANovel Multi-Mode Buck ControlCircuit with Integrated Multiplier forHID Ballast’. A traditional HID controlcircuit needs a lot of externalcomponents to perform thenecessary control during all possiblelamp phases. This new Buck Controlgives the possibility by easyprogramming, to use the Buck inContinuous- or Critical- ConductionMode to realize a current or powercontrol for the HID lamp, minimizingusage of external components.

Werner Thomas, University of


PCIM 2009 23

Applied Sciences Ingolstadt(Germany) introduces a ‘LED-Driverwith Integrated Dimming Feature andits Influence on Chromaticity Values’.In this paper, different dimmingmethods of white high brightnessLEDs are investigated to determinetheir influence on colour stability. Asapplication a current-mode controlledboost converter with integrated LEDdimming feature has been built foran automotive daytime running lightsystem. In comparison to theconventional approach, the proposedsolution achieves cost reduction bysaving the external switches anddrivers without generating additionalcolour deviations.Christian Klumpner, University of

Nottingham (UK) has entitled hispaper ‘A More Efficient CurrentSource Inverter with SeriesConnected AC Capacitors forPhotovoltaic and Fuel CellApplications’. Renewable energysources are not fitted for direct gridconnection as they deliver DC voltageand have a non-linear V/Idependence. This paper presents athree-phase power electronicinterface that uses a singleconversion stage approach based ona current source inverter (CSI) with

series connected capacitors thatneeds only six reverse blocking IGBTsand due to the possibility to reducethe input voltage at high load, wouldexperience reduced losses.Matthias Rose, Dresden

University of Technology andEconomics (Germany) willintroduce ‘A Direct CurrentCommutation Method to ImproveEfficiency of Switch ModeRegulators’. This paper describes anadaptive digital gate controlapproach for power device gatedrivers in a high-voltage CMOStechnology. We present a methodthat reduces the conduction time ofthe freewheeling diodes to zerowithout generation of crossconduction. By application of thismethod, we achieved the followingproperties: short switching timesand reduction of losses caused byconduction and reverse recovery ofthe freewheeling diode.

Software Tools andApplicationswill be covered in the final oral

power electronics session on theTuesday 14.00-16.00.Stéphanie Conseil, ON

Semiconductor (France) will talk on

‘Small-Signal Modeling of theFlyback Converter Operated inBoundary Conduction Mode: thePWM Switch versus a SimplifiedApproach’. The flyback converteroperated in a quasi-resonance iswidely used in the power supplyindustry and in particular innotebook adapters. Besides theelectrical architecture in itself and allits associated constrains, stabilityanalysis and loop compensationrepresent an important part of thewhole design study. Unfortunately, inlack of a simple model definition,this portion is very often overlookedand the final tuning carried via trialand error with an oscilloscope.Tiziana Bertoncelli, GE Global

Research (Germany) willintroduce a ‘Boundary ElementMethod for Power ElectronicsBusbar Calculation’. Theapplication of a boundary elementmethod based software for powerelectronics devices are shown.The aim of the study is to foreseestray and commutationinductances in IGBT converters,and a comparison with a FEManalysis and experimental datawill be provided. Then the studywill be moved to a lumped

parameter description tounderstand the impact ofdifferent designs on theconverter’s behaviour.André Domurat-Linde,

Fraunhofer IZM (Germany) will coverthe ‘Requirements for Tools used inEMC Design’. Due to the manifoldpossibilities for EMI coupling and itsinfluence on electronic circuits,predicting and optimization of EMIbehaviour is a complex task.Nameable parts of costs arise bycircuit redesign and integrationprocess of filter components. Amethodical design flow to save timeand costs is presented. We discussrequirements for tools used incomputer-aided design of EMIbehaviour in state of prototypedevelopment, possible solutions, upto now missing links and unsolvedquestions.

The first Poster/Dialogue Sessioncovering 18 papers will be held onthe Tuesday from 16.00-17.15,concluding the first day of the PCIM2009 conference. The respectiveproducts are shown on the exhibitionfloor.

www.pcim.de


http://www.pcim.de

24 POWER SEMICONDUCTORS www.infineon.com/sic


3rd Generation Silicon CarbideSchottky Diodes Pave the Way forEnergy Efficient Power SolutionsA new generation of silicon carbide Schottky diodes in 600 and 1200V blocking voltage class has recently

been introduced by Infineon Technologies. A reduction of device capacitances and improved thermal

coupling chip to package extend diode performance limits as well as cost-effectiveness. This article outlines

how the recent innovations in SiC diodes now pave the way for benchmark efficiency in a number of power

conversion solutions, such as power factor correction in switched mode power supplies used in computing,

telecommunication, LCD-TV and lighting, as well as solar inverters and motor drives. Fanny Björk, JonHancock, Roland Rupp, Gerald Deboy; Automotive, Industrial & Multimarket business group atInfineon Technologies AG

Power supply manufacturers incomputing, communications andindustrial area are under continuouspressure to increase system efficiencies,driven by energy initiatives such asEnergy Star [1] or via legislations. Sincesystem cost per watt is typically notallowed to rise, increasing efficiency putstough demands on semiconductor andpassive component performance as wellas topology innovation. Silicon Carbide(SiC) as the ideal semiconductormaterial for low loss power electronicshas been well known for severaldecades (see e.g. [2]); however, it tookuntil 2001 to introduce the firstcommercial SiC devices into the market[2]. The reason for this long pre-development time is the difficultsubstrate wafer manufacturing process.

In fact, the first commercial SiC deviceshave been manufactured on 2indiameter wafers; meanwhile, the waferdiameter used in production has alreadyincreased to 4in. This makes theformerly exotic and expensive SiCtechnology much more affordable. Theunique feature of SiC diodes in the600V and above range is that virtuallyloss-less switching is enabled incombination with attractive conductionbehaviour, allowing benchmark efficiencyand reduced complexity in modernSMPS solutions.

Basic principle and unique features ofSiC Schottky Diodes

Other than pn diodes, Schottky diodesdo not show any dynamic changes in thecharge carrier densit, when being forward

biased, and therefore, this also meansthat no ‘reverse recovery’ is necessarywhen the bias changes sign.

Therefore, the equivalent model of theSiC Schottky diode is very simple. Itconsists of an ideal diode, possessing atemperature dependent junction potentialand temperature dependent differentialresistance with no switching losses and adepletion capacitor in parallel. Whenswitching the unipolar diode off, only thedisplacement current of the capacitor canbe observed, instead of a typical bipolarreverse recovery waveform. As expected,there is also no dependence of thiscapacitive ‘recovery’ charge (Qc) fromtemperature, forward current or di/dt [4,5, 6]. Of course, such Schottky diodes canalso be realised in silicon, but at a voltagerating of >150V they suffer significantly

Figure 1: Schematic drawing of a plain Schottky diode (a, left) and a Merged-PN-Schottky concept (b). Carrier injection for forward voltages >3V allow surgecurrent capability increase. The epi layer is responsible for the blocking capability of the device

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from both very high on-resistance andleakage current [3] and are practically notin use.The structure of a plain Schottky diode

is simple, as indicated in Figure 1a. One ofthe drawbacks of this simple device is thevery limited surge current capability. As theOhmic slope of its forward characteristic ispurely governed by the mobility of thecharged carriers (which depend via 1/T2

on temperature T), there exists a strongpositive feedback mechanism betweenincreasing current --> increasing powerdissipation --> increasing R --> increasingVf increasing power dissipation …, whatfinally leads to a thermal destruction ofthe devices at surge currents only ~3times higher than rated current within10ms.How to circumvent this issue? The

solution is shown in Figure 1b – it is theso-called merged pn-Schottky diode [7,8]. This concept takes advantage of thewide bandgap material properties of SiC.Under normal operating conditions, the

high pn junction potential (~3 V) of SiCprecludes conduction of the pn structureand unipolar Schottky current conductiontakes place. Only in surge currentconditions will the pn junction potentialbe reached, and the pn structure willprovide additional carrier injection forconductivity modulation of the drift region(see Figure 2).The p regions with low Ohmic contact

to the Schottky barrier have furtherbenefits in this structure. They willconcentrate the maximum electrical fieldaway from the Schottky barrier surfaceand provide a true and consistentavalanche breakdown characteristic -which cannot be realised by a plainSchottky barrier structure.The very small remaining capacitive

switching losses are directly linked to theactive area of the diode; this means thatover dimensioning the SiC diode willincrease those dynamic losses – this isthe opposite to what most designers areused to seeing for Si-diodes, where

switching losses strongly depend oncurrent density and T-rise due to self-heating. In other words, for PFCapplications running at frequencies of100kHz and above especially, thetrade-off between conduction lossesand switching losses has to becompletely re-adjusted when using SiCdiodes, as we will explain in more detailin the next paragraph.

Device optimisation of thirdgeneration thinQ! SiC Schottky diodesWhat is limiting the power that can be

drawn from a SiC diode? With risingcurrent the conduction losses at fullload will increase due to the Ohmicbehaviour of the diode. The dissipatedpower must not drive the device intothermal runaway, nor violate maxjunction temperature ratings. With themerged pn/Schottky concept, wealready get a nearly temperatureindependent forward characteristic (ascan be seen from Figure 2, right hand

Figure 2: Schematic (a, left) and measured (b, right) forward characteristic of Infineon’s thinQ! second generation diodes

Figure 3: Improvement of thermal resistance (Rth) chip junction-to-case (left) and device capacitances (right) for second and third generation SiC diodes



26 POWER SEMICONDUCTORS www.infineon.com/sic


graph beyond a Vf of 5.5V), whichpractically eliminates the problem ofthermal runaway. For the reduction ofjunction temperature Infineonintroduces with its 3rd generation of SiCSchottky diodes a new mountingtechnology, which takes away thethermal barrier from the 60 to 80µmthick solder layer conventionally beingused for mounting power devices intodiscrete packages. The solder isreplaced by an extremely thin diffusionzone. The result is an improvement ofboth steady-state thermal resistance andtransient thermal impedance. In effect,the well-known extremely good thermalconductivity of SiC can now be utilisedto a larger extent, with the chip directlycoupled to the large and also goodthermal conducting copper leadframe ofthe TO package.This enables a better thermal margin, as

well as an increase of the diodes’ currentdensity rating, resulting in smaller devicecapacitances as smaller chip sizes are thenpossible. Figure 3 shows the reduction insteady-state thermal resistance Rth junctionto case and device capacitances when

going from second to third generationthinQ! diodes.

Optimum utilisation of SiC diodeperformance in PFC applicationsThe optimisation task which diode

current rating to choose for a given powerapplication depends on the followingfactors:

• Efficiency, full load and light load,• surge current capability, start-up andcycle drop-out,• thermal behaviour.

In a PFC stage, the losses attributed tothe diode can be split into conductionlosses, which come from the Ohmic slopeof the forward characteristic and thecapacitive losses, which come from thecapacitive displacement charge. Asconduction losses will decrease with alower Ohmic slope or higher current ratingof the diode, the capacitive losses willnaturally increase with a higher currentrating. As the conduction losses go with thesquare of the power drawn from the PFCstage, a higher current rating will be

beneficial for the full load efficiency. Viceversa, a low current rating will be beneficialfor the light load efficiency. Choosing theright diode is then, in the end, anevaluation of how to optimise the trade-offbetween full load efficiency versus lightload efficiency.Assuming a 1000W wide input voltage

range CCM (continuous conduction mode)PFC application running at 130kHz, Figure4 shows the conduction (dotted lines) andtotal losses both for boost MOSFET anddiode.An ideal match here would be 75mΩ for

the PFC MOSFET and the 8A 3rdgeneration SiC Schottky diode, as bothdevices lead to an optimum which isclose to the minimum of losses but onthe right hand side of this optimum (whichis important with respect to cost-effectiveness).Now taking this 8A diode and varying the

load from 20 to 100% gives us a parabolicbehaviour of the losses relative to the ratedoutput power. The capacitive losses remainat their absolute value independently onthe output power; in a graph relative to theoutput power they are increasing inversely

Figure 4: Comparison of conduction (dottedline) and total losses (solid line) of boostMOSFET (blue) and diode (red lines)respectively, as a function of RDSon or slope of theOhmic forward characteristic respectively. Theampere values indicate the rated current ofdiodes with a resistivity as given on thex-axis

Figure 5: Contribution of diode losses to theefficiency (diode losses/output power) as afunction of output power in a 1000W PFC stageat 90V input and 130kHz switching frequency



www.infineon.com/sic POWER SEMICONDUCTORS 27


proportional to the output power. Vice versa, theconduction losses which go absolutely with thesquare of the current or output power, change to alinear increasing dependency in a graph where therelative losses versus output power are plotted.Figure 5 shows the result.

The 3rd generation SiC diode gives at light load0.26 percentage points better efficiency overcompetitor 8A SiC Schottky barrier parts, whereasat full load a small efficiency penalty of 0.08percentage points is seen. Due to better thermalcoupling there will be practically no increase injunction temperature. Furthermore, thermalrunaway is avoided by the merged pn/Schottkyconcept. At light load however, efficiency is worth alot as it is getting increasingly difficult to meet theever-demanding efficiency targets there. At inputvoltages higher than 90V, the advantage of thisoptimisation is becoming even bigger.

1200V thinQ! SiC diodesOf course, SiC Schottky diodes are not

limited to 600V. Due to the comparatively lowresistivity of the necessary blocking layers(‘drift layers’), 1200V Schottky diodes alsohave very attractive performance values incomparison with their Si counterparts. As forthe 600V level, the switching losses are onlyminimal and due to capacitive displacementcurrent. In fact, the capacity of 1200V with acertain active area is even smaller than for a600V device, caused by the lower doping

concentration in the drift layer. Thus, thosediodes are ideal companions as freewheelingdiodes for modern ultrafast Si-IGBTs. About2.5x higher switching frequency can beachieved with similar switching losses whenreplacing just the 1200V Si-pn diodes with SiCSchottky diodes. Or vice versa, a total lossreduction is possible at a given switchingfrequency.

ConclusionWith the introduction of SiC Schottky diodes

on a commercial base back in 2001, virtuallyloss less switching of the boost diode became areality, which brought the efficiency achievable incontinous-current mode PFC stages to hithertounknown levels. The 2nd generationimplemented a bipolar boost function, whichmakes the diode rugged towards over-currentoperations. What has now been realised for the3rd generation is the effective thermal couplingof the highly thermal conductive SiC material tothe also highly thermal conductive copperleadframe without thick solder materials in-between, which act like a thermal barrier. Withthis 3rd generation we took another big steptowards the ideal diode such as:

• virtually no switching frequency limitation fromthe diode,•no safety margins necessary for start up and cycledrop out operations,

•cool operation during transient thermal load steps,•improved light-load efficiency by significantlyreduced device capacitances and,•lower cost, for more affordable energy efficiency.

References[1] http://www.energystar.gov[2] Baliga B.J., J. Appl. Phys. 53, (1982) pp.

1759-1764[3] Kapels, H.; Rupp, R.; Lorenz, L.; and

Zverev, I., ‘SiC Schottky Diodes: A Milestone inHard Switching Applications’, Proc. PCIM 2001

[4] Zverev, I.; Kapels, H.; Rupp, R.; andHerfurth, M ‘Silicon Carbide Schottky: NovelDevices Require Novel Design Rules,’ Proc.PCIM 2002

[5] Hancock, J.; Lorenz, L.; ‘Comparison ofCircuit Design Approaches in High FrequencyPFC Converters for SiC Schotty Diode and HighPerformance Silicon Diodes,’ PCIM2001Proceedings, pp. 192-200

[6] I. Zverev, M. Treu, H. Kapels, O. Hellmund,R. Rupp, J. Weiss; Proc EPE (2001) Graz

[7] Bjoerk, F.; Hancock, J.; Treu, M.; Rupp,R.; and Reimann, T.; ‘2nd Generation 600VSiC Schottky Diodes used Merged PN/SchottkyStructure for Surge Overload Protection,’proceedings from APEC 2006

[8] Rupp, R.; Treu, M.; Voss, S.; Bjoerk, F.;Reimann, T.; ‘2nd Generation SiC SchottkyDiodes: A New Benchmark in SiC DeviceRuggedness,’ proceedings from ISPSD 2006

GenX3TM 600V IGBT

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Features+15V/-10V gate voltage3W output power20A gate current80ns delay timeDirect and half-bridge modeParallel operationIntegrated DC/DC converterElectrical isolation for 1700V IGBTsPower supply monitoringShort-circuit protectionFast failure feedbackSuperior EMC

2SP0320 is the ultimate driver platform for PrimePACKTM IGBT modules. As a member of the CONCEPT Plug-and-play driverfamily, it satisfies the requirements for optimized electrical performance and noise immunity. Shortest design cycles are achieved without compromising overall system efficiency inany way. Specifically adapted drivers are available for all module types. A direct paralleling option allows integrated inverter design covering all power ratings. Finally, the highlyintegrated SCALE-2 chipset reduces the component count by 80% compared to conventional solutions, thus signifi-cantly increasing reliability and reducing cost. The drivers areavailable with electrical and fiberoptic interfaces.

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Current Sensing in AdvancedPower Electronics ApplicationsThe progress in the development of power electronics applications such as advanced drives andregenerative electrical conversion needs new hardware components like current measuring transducers withadvanced features. LEM provides appropriate solutions for current measurement in such applications. Theyfeature small size (only limited by requirement of the standards for isolation distances), and low outputvoltage drift for an outstanding accuracy across the working temperature range. Jürgen Koß, Sales andMarketing Manager Industrial Transducers, LEM, Germany

Due to human nature and foreconomical reasons, there has always beena quest to be better and be more efficientin order to facilitate our life, our work, orour processes. This leads to generalrequirements of technical systems beingcost-effective and, at the same time, highlyreliable and available (high quality).Nowadays, being aware of mankind’sinfluence on the environment, there is astrong need for the sustainable use of ourlimited resources in the generation ofelectrical energy. To enable powerelectronic applications with enhancedperformance, current measurementtransducers have always been designed tobe state-of-the-art. As a response to thishigher market demand, LEM has developeda new series of current transducers (CAS,CASR, CKSR) with an improvedperformance (Figure 1). Additionally,another series of current transducers (CTseries) will be presented for use inadvanced power electronics forphotovoltaic applications.

Current sensing in high-performanceelectrical drivesHaving in mind that the vast majority of

the electrical energy for industrial use isbeing consumed by electrical drives,everybody understands the need for aconstant progress in the design of highly

efficient and high-performance drives. Atthe same time, these drives shouldoptimise processes, thus leading to anoverall cost reduction.High-performance drives are the so-

called servo drives. Their maincharacteristics can be described by highdynamics with respect to the rotationalspeed (from 0 up to approximately10,000RPM) and also a huge torque (in

particular the starting torque at 0RPM).There has been a great progress in theevolution of the servo drives consisting ofboth the motors (induction motors) andthe feeding inverters (variable speeddrives). This progress has been madepossible by improvements in every aspectof the involved components (hardware andsoftware).Nowadays, the inverter’s task is not only

Figure 1: LEM current transducers for use in advanced power electronics applications

Figure 2: Blockdiagram of a drive’spower electronicswith locations forcurrent measurement

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to provide the motor with the requiredvariable voltages, frequencies (for thespeed) and the currents (for the torque). Italso now has superior functions for themotion and process control as well ascommunications capabilities (several bus-standards are available). In order to fulfillthese tasks, several sensors in the drive arenecessary. One of these is the currenttransducer.In particular, the requirements for the

current sensing devices in these inverterstoday are higher rated currents in smallerpackages whilst, at the same time, higherisolation capabilities, a higher accuracy for awider operating temperature range and, ingeneral, a smarter behaviour in a ruggedenvironment (common-mode behaviour,noise) as an answer to the latestdevelopment of faster switching powerdevices. A nice-to-have feature could be anintegrated differential measurement. Theanswer to these requests is LEM’s latestdevelopment comprising three series oftransducers (CAS, CASR, CKSR) with eachfour current ratings from 6 to 50A (6, 15, 25and 50ARMS). The possibilities of currentmeasurement are shown in Figure 2.Depending on the location, the currents

are measured in the inverter. Thetransducer offers certain functionsaccording to its capabilities: Protection of the drive - herewith, themaximum current should be limited inorder to not destroy the expensive powerdevices (e.g. IGBTs). Here, it is crucial thatthe current transducer is very fast, i.e. it hasa very short response time. Closed-Looptransducers like LEM’s classical Hall-effectbased transducers as well as the Fluxgatebased new series CAS, CASR, and CKSRoffer this feature (response time at 90% is300ns). It must also withstand muchhigher currents for a short time than givenby the rated current. Protection of the operator - failurecurrents have to be detected in order tosave the operator’s life. Here, it is essentialthat the transducer is able to measure verylow currents with a sufficient accuracy. Control of the motor - in modern

variable speed drives, the induction motorhas been modelled in such a way that it ispart of the overall control-loop. Commontoday is a cascaded control loop withtorque, speed, motion, and process control(see Figure 3).These drives have to work properly in

different environments, namely differentoperating temperatures. The influence ofthe temperature on the drive’s control mustbe minimised. Therefore, a very lowtemperature drift is essential. Thanks to theFluxgate technology used in LEM’s latestdevelopment (CAS, CASR, CKSR), thetemperature drift of the transducer’s offsetis up to four times lower compared to theprevious series (LTS, LTSR).As can be seen in Figure 3, any deviation

in the measurement of the current leads toa response of the control circuit –intentionally or by unwanted effects likenoise, especially when we look at moderndigital controllers with a higher resolution(12bit ADC). The equations 1 and 2compare the resolution of 8bit ADC and12bit ADC for the output voltage range of2.5V biased to the reference voltage of thesame level in 5V controllers:

8bit = > 28 = 256 steps = > 2,5V / 256 =9,76mV/step resolution (1)

12 bit = > 212 = 4096 steps = > 2,5V /4096 = 0,61mV/step resolution (2)

LEM’s series LTS has an output noiselevel of 10mVpp. In an 8bit world, thenoise has no influence on the control ofthe drive. Looking at 12bit shows that thenoise level easily captures the lowest4bits, leading to a reaction of thecontroller that switches the powersemiconductors at the output to controlthe motor. The result is an unwantedtorque effect in particular applications: ashivering of the motor’s shaft at zerospeed. The latest current transducergeneration drastically lowers the noiselevel, so that the described effects couldbe easily masked or filtered (for lowcurrent ratings transducers), or are even

not existing (CASR 25-NP: 0.4mVppnoise) in the 12bit world.Photovoltaic inverters with enhancedperformanceSustainable (or green) electrical energy

generation is one of the keywords today.Besides some niche applications, two mainstreams have been experiencing hugedevelopment in recent years until today:The electrical energy generation bywindmills, and by photovoltaics. The latterhas recently become the fastest growingmarket in the world. The interesting aspectof photovoltaics is that every suitableproperty can be a potential electrical energysource. This decentralised energygeneration causes problems, especially dueto the fact that the mains grid provides asinusoidal AC voltage and current while thesolar panel generates DC voltages andcurrents. Inverters are needed to adapt thisDC world to the AC world of the grid.There is a trend towards increasing the

power of the inverters while, at the sametime, the specific cost (EUR/kW) needs tobe lowered. Thus, they are becomingincreasingly sophisticated. Furthermore,additional features and capabilities such asdiagnostics are being added. The multi-string technology as one of the latestdevelopment steps allows the connectionof several strings to one inverter, andfeatures a separate MPPT (maximumpower point tracking) for each string. Thisensures maximum energy yield.A must in all design topologies is the

detection of electrical failures that couldharm human life during operation (leakageand isolation errors). In such cases, theoperation must be switched off safelyaccording to the standards that vary fromcountry to country.Although several topologies of the

inverter design are on the market, twofundamental design topologies arecommon when connecting the solar panelsto the grid - inverters with a (high-frequency) transformer, and inverterswithout any transformer.As transformers provide inherent

protection against DC injection into the

30 SOLAR POWER www.lem.com


Figure 3: Design of a drive’s controller


http://www.lem.com

grid, the inverters without transformer need additionalelectronics in order to limit the DC injection to thelowest allowable limit (also different from country tocountry due to their regulations). However, thetransformer-less designs are electrically more efficient,as the transformer counts for approximately 2% ofpeak efficiency. In all types of inverters, it is reallyimportant to measure the current by means of isolatedcurrent transducers. The non-intrusive measurementhelps to improve the efficiency and to protect thesystem.

There are several functions in the chain from theenergy generation at the solar panels to the feed-in intothe grid, for which LEM offers transducers for currentmeasurement: Inverter-based for the measurement ofthe single strings (daisy chain of solar panels), for MPPT,for the control of the power devices in the inverter, forearth leakage protection, and the monitoring of solarpower plants. Figure 4 shows the different locations fora current measurement.

To monitor and control the MPPT, a currenttransducer can be used at the DC input of the inverter.As the expected variations of the current changes areslow, LEM provides cost-effective O/L transducers likethe HXS or HMS series for measurement at this point.Another important issue is to measure potentiallydangerous leakage currents to the ground of the solarpanels. As these currents are really low, LEM has offereda special Fluxgate based transducer series called CTseries. This series consists of three different types forcurrents ratings of 100, 200, and 400mA. A special typehas two primary jumpers built-in and features anadditional jumper for test purposes.

Then, there is the inverter’s output with thecurrent flowing into the grid. As this output needs tobe synchronised when switched onto the grid, itneeds a special control. Also, the current has to besinusoidal, i.e. the electronics of the inverter have to‘shape’ the AC current (fed as DC current from thesolar panels) in such a way that the least possibleharmonics are being generated. In order to react fastto certain changes on the grid side of the inverter,fast transducers like LEM’s new series CAS, CASR,and CKSR are the best choice. Another argument forapplication of this transducers in solar inverters isthat the offset and, in particular, the offset drift ismuch lower compared to established series. Thisavoids a complex control algorithm to compensatefor effects due to temperature drifts. This lowers theDC part that has been generated by the previoustransducers’ offset voltage at the output fed intothe grid.

www.lem.com SOLAR POWER 31


Figure 4: Possibilitiesto measure thecurrent withtransducers in atransformer-less PVinverter


http://www.lem.com

32 SOLAR POWER www.vincotech.com


Innovative Topologies for HighEfficient Solar ApplicationsWith the race towards highest efficiency, innovative topologies are more often considered for thedevelopment of new power conversion products. Old well-known ideas revive because the advancedpower module technology, in connection with elevated requirements into efficiency, makes the utilisationeconomical. In this article, power module topologies with paralleled MOSFET – IGBT switch dedicated fornew high efficient solar applications are presented. Michael Frisch and Temesi Ernö, VincotechGermany and Hungary

The combination of MOSFET and IGBTaddresses two basic improvements inefficiency: boosting efficiency at high loadrange by rendering the static losses of theswitch to the IGBT and the dynamic lossesto the MOSFET, and boosting efficiency atlight load range by rendering both the staticand the switching losses to the MOSFET(Figure 1).

The MOSFET turns on fast and is delayedat switch-off so that the switching losses areassigned to the MOSFET. The MOSFET willalso carry the current at low power, soeliminating one pn junction voltage drop ofthe IGBT, whereas the IGBT will take themajority at maximum load condition. At lowload the IGBT is not conducting at all, soresidential tail current losses are eliminatedfor the whole power range. With thistopology, it is possible to improve both theoverall and the maximum load efficiency.

Gate controlAt switch-on the gate of the MOSFET is

direct paralleled with the IGBT gate,because the MOSFET will be faster andtake over the switch on losses. But atswitch-off, the MOSFET has to be delayedto release the IGBT from switch-off losses.For this timing there are differentpossibilities available such as 1) separategate signal by two drivers, 2) separate gatesignal by single driver, 3) single gateconnection, and 4) direct connection.

The independent access to both gates inthe first solution offers maximum flexibilityand optimal results are achievable. Delayingthe turn-off drive signal to the MOSFETexploits the maximum advantages of theswitch. The separate gate signal by singledriver (2) resulted in maximum performance(Figure 2). For power modules, it isadvantagous to offer pin compatibility withstandard switches. This approach is supportedby the single gate control topology illustratedin Figure 3. Here, the gate resistance for theMOSFET is included in the power module.

The dynamic behaviour is only slightly worsecompared with the separate gate circuit.

It is also possible to connect the gatesdirectly. Here are two remaining possibilities.With a standard gate driver circuit only theswitch-on losses will be reduced, which willalready reduce the total dynamic lossessignificantly. But it is also possible togenerate a three-level gate signal and to usean IGBT with higher threshold voltage. TheIGBT will already switch off at the secondlevel voltage, whereas the MOSFET will takeover the current before switching off with0V gate voltage. The drawback of this idea isthe relatively high tolerances of thethreshold voltages.

Ideas for new topologiesThe parallel idea could be used in all

IGBT based topologies where the switchinglosses are significantly high and in all

MOSFET topologies with significant staticlosses. For solar applications especially, thefollowing topologies might be of interest.

NPC (neutral point clamp) topologieswill play a significant role for applicationswith power ratings > 7kW and DC voltageshigher than 600V. One example is the NPC

Figure 1:ParallelingMOSFET andIGBT for boostingefficiency

Figure 2: Driver withseparate gate access

Figure 3: Driver forsingle gateconnection

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www.vincotech.com SOLAR POWER 33


topology of Figure 4 which is available asan integrated power module.1200V diodes will transport the reactive

current because the intrinsic characteristicsof the diodes of the MOSFETs are disabled.The suppresser diode connected with ahigh voltage FRED protects the IGBT fromreverse current when the parasitic capacityof the MOSFET is charged at switch-off. InFigure 5, the module P965-F - 45mΩ -CoolMOS (solid line) is compared with theP969-F using a 99mΩ CoolMOS in parallelwith an PT-IGBT(dashed line) at f = 16kHz,PN = 10kW.The three-level inverter topology in

Figure 6 is able to gain further efficiencywith the usage of higher voltage switches.With this circuit efficiency > 99% isachievable at higher power levels. Becauseof the neutral clamping, it is possible to usethe MOSFET up to nearly the breakdownvoltage. The handling of reactive power islimited due to the limitation of the bodydiode of the MOSFET. To cover thisapproach, the circuit in Figure 7 is therecommended alternative. Here, the switchin the neutral point clamp could be either aMOSFET or an IGBT or both.

ConclusionWith the paralleling of MOSFET and IGBT,

it is possible to achieve a nearly constantefficiency at the highest level. Theexploitation of this well-known parallelingtechnology was hindered by the complexityof semiconductor technology selectioncriteria, gate drive technologies, and thedependency of the results on layoutcausing parasitic stray inductances of

discrete devices. With an advanced powermodule technology, the utilisation is nowmore than economical. The powermodules which are supporting this idea areavailable as a standard product or can bedefined as customised components. Thefuture approach of reactive powercapabilities is already incorporated.

LiteratureSoft-Switching of IGBTs with the help

of MOSFETs in Bridge-Type Converters,Yimin Jiang, Guichao Hua, Eric Yang,and Fred C. Lee

High Frequency Power Switch -Improved Performance by MOSFETs andIGBTs Connected in Parallel, Klaus F.Hoffmann, Jens Peter Kiirst

High speed complementary Drive ofa hybrid MOSFET and IGBT powerswitch, Jens Peter Kaerst, Klaus F.Hoffmann

A New Neutral-Point-Clamped PWMInverter (1981), Akira Nabae, IsaoTakahashi, Hirofumi Akagi

CoolMOS is a trade mark of InfineonTechnologies AG

Figure 4: NPC topology as integrated in theP969-F power module

Figure 6: High voltageNPC

Figure 7: High voltageNPC with reactiveload capability

Figure 5: Efficiencycomparison of mixedNPC (solid) versusmixed paralleled NPC(dashed line)

p32-33 Feature Vincotech.qxd:Layout 1 26/3/09 12:25 Page 33

http://www.vincotech.com

34 AUTOMOTIVE POWER www.analog.com


Micro-Transformers Provide Signaland Power Isolation for HybridElectric VehiclesHybrid Electric Vehicles have gained increased popularity in recent years as consumers look foralternative fuel vehicles to conserve energy and reduce CO2 emissions. Electric motors are more energyefficient than conventional combustion engines running on gasoline, and they can dramatically reduceemissions. While batteries are at the heart of HEVs, they are also the source of many barriers to adoptingHEVs because of reliability, safety, weight and cost. To overcome these barriers, battery monitoringsystems are employed to maintain longevity and safe operation of the batteries. Due to their highoperating voltage, sophisticated isolation techniques are required. Baoxing Chen, Sr. Staff Engineer,Analog Devices, USA

There are a couple of major challengesfor designing the battery monitoringsystems (BMS) because the battery stackvoltage can be as high as 400V in manyHEVs. This high voltage is needed to deliverenough power to the motor, but it creates aproblem for transmitting the state of charge(SOC) current and voltage signals from thebattery cells to the microcontroller thatprocesses the information from all cells tomaintain safe operation of the battery stack.To get around this hurdle, BMS employgalvanic isolation to transmit data from thehigh voltage battery to lower voltageelectronics elsewhere in the vehicle.Traditional isolation solution such asoptocouplers are not ideal for HEV becausethey degrade over time, especially inautomotive environments where highambient temperatures are expected; theyalso do not have enough bandwidth tohandle the high speed Serial PeripheralInterface (SPI) that is typically usedbetween the battery monitoring ICs andBMS microcontroller.The other major challenge is to achieve

power isolation in addition to signalisolation in HEV BMS. Hardware protectionsystem needs to be in place to provideisolated power on the battery side, so thatthe isolators can pass safety informationsuch as over-voltage information to themicrocontroller to shutdown the systemappropriately in the event of hardwarefailure. The safety information needs to beuninterrupted, even if there is a hardwareerror where no battery power is available topower the battery monitoring ICs.The novel iCoupler digital isolators with

isoPower provide signal and powerisolation using on-chip transformers.Magnetic coupling allows for signal transferacross isolation barrier and iCoupler devicesconsume much less power compared tothe optocouplers. Integration of multi-channel and digital interface makes themvery easy to use and it leads to significantreduction in component count and boardspace. The device performance based onmagnetic coupling has no wear-outmechanism and has little variation overtime and temperature.

iCoupler technology with isoPowerThe micro-transformers used in iCoupler

devices are stacked windings built on top ofCMOS substrates, and they aremanufactured using standardsemiconductor processing. The polyimidefilms sandwiched in between top andbottom coils of the micro-transformers aredeposited at wafer level and provide well-controlled thickness and high structuralquality. The cured polyimide films used iniCoupler devices have dielectric breakdownstrength over 400V/µm. With a totalthickness of 20µm between coils, thepolyimide layers enable the devices to beable to survive over 8kV instantaneous ACvoltage. Because deposited polyimide filmsare free of voids and do not suffer fromcorona discharge, iCoupler devices alsoexhibit good aging behaviour and work wellunder continuous AC or DC voltages. Thepolyimide has also very high thermalstability. Its weight loss temperature is over500°C, and its glass transition temperatureis about 260°C.

The transfer of logic signals acrossisolation barrier is realised throughappropriate encoding at the primary sideand decoding at the secondary side torecover the input logic signals. Specificallyshort pulses around 1ns wide aretransmitted across the transformers withtwo consecutive short pulses to indicate aleading edge and a single short pulse as afalling edge. A non-retriggerable mono-stable at the secondary generates detectionpulses. If two pulses are detected, theoutput is set to HIGH. On the other hand, ifa single pulse is detected, the output is setto LOW.For transmitting power across the

isolation barrier, these micro-transformersare switched resonantly to achieve efficientenergy transfer, while the energy regulationis realised through a low frequency PWMfeedback signal, which controls the dutycycle that the high frequency resonantaction is left on. Both the transformerswitches and Schottky diodes used forrectification are implemented on-chip.An example implementation of a quad-

channel isolator with a fully integratedisolated DC/DC converter in a 16-leadSOIC package is shown in Figure 1. The leftchip has high voltage CMOS switches andthe right chip has the rectification diodesand converter controller. Two cross-coupledswitches together with transformers formthe oscillation and the Schottky diodes areused for fast and efficient rectification. Thetransformer chips are located in the middle.This implementation has the transformerson separate chips but, in principle, thetransformers can be put on same chips for

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www.analog.com AUTOMOTIVE POWER 35


the switches or the Schottky diodes. For thetop transformer chip, the two largertransformers are power transformers whilethe small transformer is for transmitting thefeedback PWM signal. The bottomtransformer chip holds four additionalmicro-transformers for the quad-channelisolator. The left chip and right chip alsohold encoding and decoding circuit for thefour-channel isolators.Fully integrated half-bridge gate drives,

isolated analogue/digital converters (ADCs)and isolated transceivers that are alsoneeded for the isolation in HEV can beimplemented similarly. Signal and powerisolation provide functional integration thatcan dramatically reduce the complexity, sizeand total cost of the isolated systems forHEV applications.

Isolation for HEV battery monitoringsystemsOne of the major obstacles for the

faster adoption of HEV is the additionalcost, weight and safety concernsassociated with the batteries that arerequired to drive electric motors. It isextremely important to monitor state ofcharge (SOC) and state of heath (SOH) ofeach battery cell. BMS is essential toensure safe operation and maximumlifetime for the battery stack.Figure 2 shows an example

implementation of BMS in HEV. A batterymonitor IC such as AD7280 monitors theSOC for the battery stack andcommunicates with the controller throughthe SPI interface. The SPI interface isisolated through ADuM5401, a four-channel isolator with integral 500mWisolated DC/DC converter. Besides thebattery monitor IC, a redundant hardwareprotection system is typically used toensure the battery cell voltage is within thesafe operation ranges. In the event of ahardware error, the hardware protectionsystem will be able to communicatethrough a two-channel isolator, ADuM1201,with the microcontroller and shut downrelated system components appropriately. Ifthe battery monitor IC requires more than

five channels of isolation, other higherchannel count devices such as ADuM130xand ADuM140x can be used. IsoPowerplays a very important role here, as weneed to make sure the system protection isin place, even though the battery power isnot available. The 500mW isolated powercan be used to provide the power for thehardware protection IC, isolators at thebattery side, and also the power for theADCs inside battery monitor ICs if there isno internal regulator from the batteryterminal to power-up the ADCs.If multiple battery ICs are needed,

dedicated isolation for each battery stackcan be implemented, especially when eachbattery stack has its own module. Analternative solution is to take advantage ofdaisy chain capability within battery monitorICs such as AD7280 to pass the SPIcommands across multiple battery monitorICs without using isolation. Only the bottom

stack battery monitor IC needs tocommunicate to the BMS controllerthrough isolated interface.The BMS controller also needs to

communicate with other system controllersthrough the main vehicle CAN bus.ADuM1201 or ADuM5201 can be used toprovide isolation in between the BMScontroller and a CAN transceiver.ADuM5201 has the advantage to provideisolated power to the CAN transceiversfrom BMS controller.

Isolation for HEV motor driveThe most important elements are, of

course, electric motors that make HEVsimprove efficiency under certain drivingconditions compared with an internalcombustion engine. Its isolation needs arevery similar to those in industrial motordrives. However, there are some uniquerequirements. The inverters used to drive

Figure 1: iCouplertechnology withisoPower

Figure 2: Isolationimplementation forBMS in HEV



36 AUTOMOTIVE POWER www.analog.com


the electric motors in HEVs need to bemore compact, lower in weight, highlyefficient and reliable. In addition, they needto be able to operate at elevatedtemperatures.

In a motor drive system for HEVs, thereare two main parts of the circuit thatrequire isolation. One is gate drive for IGBTof bridge inverters, and the other is motorphase current sensing. Phase currentsensing provides IGBT device protectionand linear current feedback information forthe controller to maintain close-loop currentcontrol. Series shunt resistors, together withhigh precision ADCs at the inverter output,are typically used to sense the phasecurrent. Isolated power supplies areneeded to provide the bias for the currentsensing ADC and gate drive circuit, andseparated supplies are needed for eachphase. The complicated signal and powerisolation needs for the AC motor drives canbe dramatically simplified with the use ofiCoupler devices.

An example implementation for a lowpower motor drive is shown in Figure 3.The ADuM5230 is a half-bridge gatedriver with integrated 200mW high-side15V supply. It provides isolated 15V gatedrive output for the high-side IGBT andanother isolated 15V gate drive output forthe low-side IGBT. Low-side isolationprotects the controller from beingdamaged by the inductive switchingtransients coming from large IGBTswitching. The 15V high-side supply,generated through an integrated DC/DCconverter, provides power for the buffercircuit to drive the large IGBT, and it canalso be used with a Zener diode togenerate a 3 to 5V lower supply to powerthe current sensing ADC such as AD7401.

The AD7401 is an isolated second-ordersigma-delta modulator that converts theanalogue input to a high speed single-bitdata stream that can interface directly withthe controller. It receives clock from thecontroller while sending the clocked datastream back to the controller. Without anintegrated ADC, multiple opto-couplerswould be needed and slow optocouplersare usually not suitable for transmitting thishigh speed data stream. Both the high-sidegate drivers and the current sense ADChave their grounds referenced to theinverter outputs that can be switching veryfast. iCoupler isolation with high commonmode transient immunity is important tomaintain data integrity for high-sideswitching and current sensing.

The red-dotted lines in Figure 3 are usedto show the locations of isolation barrier,and the circuit components shown in theblue box can be replicated for bridgeinverters for other phases. The inverteroutputs need to be isolated from each

other and multiple half-bridge gate driverswill achieve that. Each of the half-bridgegate drivers will generate its own gate drivesignal and high side supply.

To achieve compact design, intelligentpower modules are often used in HEVs.The HEV motor drive systemimplementation using intelligent gate drivemodules are shown in Figure 4. The sixgate drive signals are usually isolatedthrough logic isolators, and they provideinputs to a gate drive module that providesfurther level shifting or isolation for thehigh-side IGBT devices. Logic isolationfacilitates the communication between thecontroller and DC link ground, such aspassing the DC link voltage or currentsensing information to the controller.

Similar to ADuM5401, ADuM5400 is aquad-channel isolator with an integratedDC/DC converter that provides isolatedpower up to 500mW. It provides isolationfor four of the six gate drive signals fromthe controller. ADuM1401, another quad-channel isolator provides isolation for the

other two gate drive signals. The unusedtwo isolation channels can be used forserial communication between thecontroller and a non-isolated ADC that canbe used for HVDC voltage sensing, forexample. The 500mW isolated power fromADuM5400 can be used to power up anylogic circuits that are referenced to lowside ground such as output side forADuM1401, the ADC used for voltagesensing.

ConclusionIn summary, iCoupler technology

provides robust isolation solutions for HEVBMS and electric motor drive systems. Iteliminates many constraints from otherisolation solutions. It provides a completeisolation solution in a single package,which significantly reduces the componentcount and system cost, simplifies thesystem design, and reduces theincremental design time. It makes HEVmore efficient, more compact, lighter andmore reliable.

Figure 3: HEV motor drive implementation using isolated half-bridge gate drivers

Figure 4: HEV motor drive implementation using isolated gate drive module



Optically Isolated Sigma-DeltaModulator Precisely MeasuresCurrents and VoltagesOne of the challenges in motor drive applications is the sensing of motor phase current, bus current andbus voltage, and feeding back to the controller. A new isolated Sigma-Delta Modulator is a good choice forsuch designs. Offered in a 16-lead small outline package, the isolated A/D converter delivers the reliability,small size, superior isolation and over-temperature performance motor drive designers need to accuratelymeasure current. Chen Hong Lei, Avago Technologies, Singapore

The ACPL-796J is a 1-bit, sigma-delta(Σ-Δ) modulator which has the capabilityto convert an analog input signal into ahigh-speed data stream with galvanicisolation based on optical couplingtechnology. Operating from a single 5Vpower supply, it provides 80dB dynamicperformance, when used with anappropriate digital filter.

Features and benefitsThe differential analog inputs are

implemented with a fully-differential,switched-capacitor circuit. The ACPL-796Jaccepts a signal of ± 200mV (full scale320mV), which is ideal for directconnection to shunt based current sensingor other low-level signal sourcesapplications such as motor phase currentmeasurement. An internal voltagereference determines the full-scale analoginput range of the modulator (± 320mV);an input range of ± 200mV isrecommended to achieve optimalperformance. Users are able to use ahigher input range, for example ± 250mV,as long as it is within the full-scale range,for the purpose of over-current oroverload detection. Figure 1 shows thedevice and Figure 2 the functional blockdiagram.Input signal information is contained in

the modulator output data stream,represented by the density of ones andzeros. The density of ones is proportionalto the input signal voltage, as shown inFigure 3. For example, an input of 0Vproduces a data stream of ones 50% ofthe time and zeros 50% of the time,ideally. A differential input of –200mVcorresponds to 18.75% density of ones,and 200mV is represented by 81.25%density of ones. Input of ≥ 320mV results

in ideally all ones, while input of ≥ –320mVwill result in all zeros ideally.Based on an advanced low power

CMOS process, the ACPL-796J uses anexternal clock that allows synchroniseddata conversion between the currentsensor and controller to help motorcontrol designers eliminate complexdesign processes in data and clockreading. Moreover, this optically isolated

modulator is designed with digital inputsand outputs that are compatible withsystems powered by 5 or 3V powersupplies and operates over a wideindustrial temperature range.The targeted applications that can

benefit from the use of an isolated sigma-delta modulator include current sensingand voltage sensing in AC and brushlessDC motor drives, industrial inverters, air

Figure 1: ACPL-796Jdevices in a 16-leadsmall outline package

Figure 2: ACPL-796J functional block diagram

www.avagotech.com/optocouplers INDUSTRIAL POWER 37


p37-39 Feature Avago.qxd:Layout 1 26/3/09 12:11 Page 37

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conditioners, washing machines, switchingpower supplies, power inverters used inrenewable energy systems such as solarpanels and wind turbines. In addition topower converter applications, the ACPL-796J can be used as an isolated A/Dconverter in data acquisition systems andgeneral voltage isolators, transmittingsignals such as temperature, pressure, flow,in industrial process control environments.

Typical connectionsThe ACPL-796J is designed for current

and voltage sensing in electronic motor

drives and uses advanced sigma-delta A/Dconverter technology to allow designers toaccurately measure motor phase currentsin servo and high-end inverter motor drives.Figure 4 shows an overview of a motordrive system using the device for currentand voltage sensing.Figure 5 shows a typical application

circuit for motor phase current sensing. Bychoosing the appropriate shunt resistance,the range of current can be monitored(from less than 1A to more than 100A). Inother applications, the motor can bereplaced by a load such as a main grid in

the solar energy system. Note that theACPL-796J is connected in a single-endedinput mode in this circuit. Betterperformance can be achieved with adifferential input connection.Latch-up risk of CMOS devices needs

careful design considerations, especiallyin applications with direct connection toa signal source that is subject to frequenttransient noise. The analog inputstructure of the ACPL-796J is designed tobe resilient to transients and surges,which are often encountered in highlynoisy application environments such as

38 INDUSTRIAL POWER www.avagotech.com/optocouplers


Figure 3: Modulator data output versus analog input

Figure 4: Motorcontrol applicationblock diagram

Figure 5: Typical application circuit for motorphase current sensing



motor drive and other power invertersystems. Other situations that couldcause transient voltages to the inputsinclude short circuit and overloadconditions. The device is tested with DCvoltage of up to –2V and 2s transientvoltage of up to –6V to the analog inputsand there is no latch-up or damage tothe device.

An evaluation kit is available fordesigner to quickly test the ACPL-796J(see Figure 6). The kit comes with a PCBboard that consists of three portions thatcan be separated easily to providedistance between them when needed forfield testing. Two shunt resistors (surfacemount) with different values are providedalong with the board for the designer tochoose from based on the current rating.A surface mount shunt or an axial typeshunt is also acceptable. The user can

choose to use the on-board clockgenerator, or an external clock source. Theon-board clock generator providesselectable clock frequencies from 5 to20MHz. An HCPL-0872 is used as thedigital filter to down-sample the modulatoroutput to a lower speed data rate, whichis sent to an MCU. The MCUcommunicates with the computer using aHyperTerminal through an RS-232 port.The board may also be used for generalvoltage isolation (isolated A/D converter).In this case, shunt resistors are notrequired.Conclusion

Combined with optical couplingtechnology, the modulator delivers highnoise margins and immunity againstisolation-mode transients. With 0.5mmminimum distance through insulation (DTI),the ACPL-796J provides reliable double

protection and high working insulationvoltage, which is ideal for fail-safe designs.The isolation performance provided issuperior to many other alternatives,including devices based on capacitive ormagnetic-coupling with DTI in the micro-meter range.

LiteratureACPL-796J Data Sheet:

http://www.avagotech.com/docs/AV02-1670ENApplication Note 1078 – Designing

with Avago Technologies IsolationAmplifiers:http://www.avagotech.com/docs/5965-5976EReference Guide – Isolation Products

in Motor Control Systems:http://www.avagotech.com/docs/AV00-0074EN

www.avagotech.com/optocouplers INDUSTRIAL POWER 39


Figure 6: ACPL-796Jevaluation kit

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40 PRODUCT UPDATE


Synchronous Step-DownDC/DCwithNMOS LDOThe new XCM519 multi-chip module (MCM)from Torex Semiconductor integrates anXC9235/XC9236 synchronous step-down DC/DCconverter with a NMOS LDO (low dropout)voltage regulator in a space saving package.The module meets the requirements of

battery-driven applications such as mobilephones, PDAs, gaming devices and Bluetoothequipment, with the DC/DC converter providing astep-down from the battery, and this lowervoltage feeding the NMOS LDO to provide ahighly stable, low noise supply for the on-boardprocessor’s core.The DC/DC converter block operates from a

supply voltage range between 2.7 and 6V,providing output voltages between 0.8 and4V and output currents up to 600mA. Theswitching frequency can be selected from 1.2 or3.0MHz.The XCM519 is available in two versions to

provide PWM control or automatic PWM/PFMswitching control, providing low ripple and highefficiency (92% typ) over the full load range. TheLDO regulator block operates from a BIAS voltagerange of between 2.5 and 6V and an inputvoltage of between 1 and 3V, providing outputvoltages between 0.7 and 1.8V to an accuracy of±20mV.Using an NMOS transistor driver instead of the

more usual PMOS means the regulator has amuch lower dropout voltage (just 35mV at100mA), enabling the device to be used at lowerinput voltages. Load currents of up to 400mA canbe achieved.www.torex-europe.com

Evaluation Board forIntelligent Power ModulesThe new Evaluation BoardEVBPS2XA7X from Mitsubishi Electricwas specifically developed for designengineers using the 1200V DIPIPMVersion 4 (1200V/5-35A), since itprovides users with an image of thesystem interface. The new EvaluationBoard reduces the time and costrequired for designing a PCB; it doesnot only contain the board itself, butalso a comprehensivedocumentation kit on CD-ROMallowing for easy mounting andhandling of the demo kit.

Depending on the individual IPMchosen the new PS22A7X series ofIntelligent Power Modules featurerated current of 5, 10, 15, 25 or 35Arespectively, at a rated voltage of 1200V for home appliances, air conditioners and smallpower drives. Enabling technologies are CSTBT technology (Carrier-Stored Trench Gate BipolarTransistor), shrink-process ICs, a novel heat dissipating insulation sheet and furtherinnovations. Despite the reduction of the on-state voltages and switching losses the newPS22A7X series is integrated in 30% smaller packages compared to the previous DIPIPMgeneration. This reduction in size has been achieved by a circular-shaped MOSFET replacingthe traditional oval-shape MOSFET used for high voltage level shifting in the high voltage ICso far, while simultaneously making changes to the traditional offset-structured transistor.These measures lead to increased output capabilities while the chip size remains unchanged.

Internally the PS22A78-E (35A/1200V) comprises IGBTs and Free Wheel Diodes (FWDs) in athree-phase inverter structure on the power side and control ICs on the low-voltage side.While this structure basically equals the previous version of DIPIPM, the open-emitter typeproducts offer three divided emitter terminals of low-side IGBTs in order to sense theinverter phase currents flowing through external shunts.www.mitsubishichips.com

600A EMC/EMI FiltersSchaffner has extended its FN 3280 filter family for use in higher power applications. Thenew 300, 400 and 600A models are particularly designed for use in large industrial machinesand plants with numerous motor drives, long motor cables and high interference levels. Theycan also be used in inverter and converter applications such as UPS or in the area of

renewable energy.The new high current versions of

the Schaffner FN 3280 filters areavailable in a compact package andwith solid copper bus bar terminals,ideal for fast and simple wall or floorinstallation. FN 3280 filters aredesigned for 50 and 60Hz networks infour-wire configurations (3Phase +Neutral) up to 480V (+10%) and areavailable for nominal currents from 8to 600A.The filters are UL, CSA, and ENEC

approved and RoHS compliant.www.schaffner.com

p40 Products.qxd:Products - 1 page 26/3/09 12:44 Page 40

http://www.torex-europe.com

http://www.mitsubishichips.com

http://www.schaffner.com

WEBSITE LOCATOR 41


AC/DC Connverters

www.irf.comInternational Rectifier Co. (GB) LtdTel: +44 (0)1737 227200

Diodes

Discrete Semiconductors

Drivers ICS

www.microsemi.comMicrosemiTel: 001 541 382 8028

Fuses

GTO/Triacs

IGBTs

DC/DC Connverters

DC/DC Connverters


www.power.ti.comTexas InstrumentsTel: +44 (0)1604 663399


www.neutronltd.co.ukNeutron LtdTel: +44 (0)1460 242200


Harmonic Filters

www.murata-europe.comMurata Electronics (UK) LtdTel: +44 (0)1252 811666

Direct Bonded Copper(DPC Substrates)

www.curamik.co.ukcuramik electronics GmbHTel: +49 9645 9222 0


www.mark5.comMark 5 LtdTel: +44 (0)2392 618616




www.digikey.com/europeDigi-KeyTel: +31 (0)53 484 9584






www.protocol-power.comProtocol Power ProductsTel: +44 (0)1582 477737

Busbars

www.auxel.comAuxel FTGTel: +44 (0)7714 699967

Capacitors

www.powersemiconductors.co.ukPower Semiconductors LtdTel: +44 (0)1727 811110

www.powersemiconductors.co.ukPower Semiconductors LtdTel: +44 (0)1727 811110

Connectors & TerminalBlocks


www.hvca.comHV Component AssociatesTel: +49 (0) 89/891 374 80


p41-42 Website Locator.qxd:p41-42 Website Locator 26/3/09 12:49 Page 41

http://www.irf.com

http://www.irf.com

http://www.power.ti.com

http://www.protocol-power.com

http://www.irf.com

http://www.mark5.com

http://www.microsemi.com

http://www.neutronltd.co.uk

http://www.curamik.co.uk


http://www.irf.com


http://www.powersemiconductors.co.uk


http://www.murata-europe.com

http://www.irf.com




http://www.digikey.com/europe

http://www.irf.com


http://www.auxel.com

http://www.hvca.com

http://www.powersemiconductors.co.uk


http://www.hvca.com

Power Modules

Power Protection Products

Power Substrates

Resistors & Potentiometers

Simulation Software

Thyristors

Smartpower Devices

Voltage References

Power ICs

Suppressors

Switches & Relays

Switched Mode PowerSupplies

Thermal Management &Heatsinks

















www.power.ti.comTexas InstrummentsTel: +44 (0)1604 663399


www.power.ti.comTexas InstrummentsTel: +44 (0)1604 663399


www.dau-at.comDau GmbH & Co KGTel: +43 3143 23510

www.denka.co.jpDenka Chemicals GmbHTel: +49 (0)211 13099 50

www.lairdtech.comLaird Technologies LtdTel: 00 44 1342 315044

www.universal-science.comUniversal Science LtdTel: +44 (0)1908 222211



www.isabellenhuette.deIsabellenhütte Heusler GmbH KGTel: +49/(27 71) 9 34 2 82

42 WEBSITE LOCATOR


ADVERTISERS INDEX

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ABB 9

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Coilcraft 12

CT Concepts 28

Danfoss 23

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International Exhibition& Conference forPOWER ELECTRONICSINTELLIGENT MOTIONPOWER QUALITY12 – 14 May 2009Exhibition Centre Nuremberg

2009

Power for Efficiency!

Veranstalter/Organizer:Mesago PCIM GmbH, Rotebühlstr. 83-85, D-70178 Stuttgart, Tel. +49 711 61946-56, E-mail: [email protected]

MesagoPCIM

43_PEE Issue3_2009:43_H&P_0308 26/3/09 16:01 Page 1


Part NumberBVDSS

(V)RDS(on)

(mΩ)ID@ 25˚C

(A)Qg typ

(nC)Package

IRFS3004-7PPBF 40 1.25 240* 160 D2PAK-7

IRFP4004PBF 40 1.7 195* 220 TO-247AC

IRFB3004PBF 40 1.75 195* 160 TO-220

IRFS3004PBF 40 1.75 195* 160 D2PAK

IRFS3006-7PPBF 60 2.1 240* 200 D2PAK-7

IRFB3006PBF 60 2.5 195* 200 TO-220

IRFS3006PBF 60 2.5 195* 200 D2PAK

IRFS3107-7PPBF 75 1.85 195* 380 TO-247AC

IRFS3107PBF 75 2.6 240* 160 D2PAK-7

IRFP4368PBF 75 3.0 195* 160 D2PAK

IRFB4115PBF 100 2.6 195* 360 TO-247AC

IRFS4010-7PPBF 100 4.0 190 150 D2PAK-7

IRFS4010PBF 100 4.7 180 143 D2PAK

IRFS4127PBF 150 5.9 171 151 TO-247AC

IRFS4115-7PPBF 150 11 104 77 TO-220

IRFB4127PBF 150 11.8 105 73 D2PAK-7

IRFS4115PBF 150 12.1 99 77 D2PAK

IRFP4668PBF 200 9.7 130 161 TO-247AC

IRFP4568PBF 200 20 76 100 TO-220

IRFP4468PBF 200 22 72 100 D2PAK

IRFP4768PBF 250 17 93 180 TO-247AC

* Package limited

International Rectifier has expanded its portfolio of high performance MOSFETs with a new series of HEXFET Trench MOSFETs ranging from 40V to 250V. The new devices feature a package current rating of up to 195A, delivering a 60 percent improvement over typical package current ratings. The new MOSFETs also provide improved on-state resistance (RDS(on)) compared to previous offerings and are available in the popular TO-220, D2PAK, 7 pin D2PAK, TO-247 and TO-262 packages.

Applications

• Industrial battery

• Power supply

• High power DC motors

• DC to AC inverters

• Power tools

• Synchronous rectification

• Active ORing

Features

• Industrial grade

• Moisture sensitivity level 1

• Lead-free

• RoHS compliant

Your FIRST CHOICE

for Performance

Same Package,60% More Current

THE POWER MANAGEMENT LEADER

For more information call +33 (0) 1 64 86 49 53 or +49 (0) 6102 884 311or visit us at www.irf.com

d d itdd d it

Hall 12, Stand 202


http://www.irf.com

Documents

Power Electronics Europe - Issue 3 - April 2009 · Stored Trench Gate Bipolar Transistor (LPT-CSTBT™) technology and a new free-wheel diode design to reduce IGBT losses and to suppress