Power Semiconductor Considerations for Inverter Design

This talk targets engineers using power semiconductor devices in inverter circuits who are not conversant in semiconductor physics and characterization, but who need to gain a practical understanding of how various device parameters impact the performance of their inverter circuit. It will begin with a brief overview of important power semiconductor device parameters and an explanation of the benefits of wide band gap (WBG) devices over silicon. It will then discuss semiconductor power loss and its components (conduction loss, switching loss, and driving loss) and what key device parameters affect these components. Since device capacitances are a key determinant of switching loss, this talk will cover the accurate characterization of these parameters at thousands of volts of DC bias. Similarly, this talk will also cover the determination of gate charge (which is a key parameter for driving loss) at high current and voltage. Finally, this talk will explain the need to perform double-pulse testing to accurately characterize device gate charge when driving inductive loads.

Speaker(s): Ervin Mile

Hauppauge Radisson, 110 Motor Parkway, Hauppauge, New York, United States, 11788