Power module, phase leg, and three-phase inverter

• US 20060108684A1
• Filed: 11/24/2004
• Published: 05/25/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Stevanovic, Ljubisa Dragoljub, Beaupre, Richard Alfred, Schutten, Michael Joseph, De Rooij, Michael Andrew, Delgado, Eladio Clementa
• Granted Patent: US 7,327,024 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 257/728
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/32225 the item being non-metallic, e.g. insulating substrate with or without metallisation
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/45014 Ribbon connectors, e.g. rectangular cross-section
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/45015 being circular
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/45124 Aluminium (Al) as principal constituent
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48091 Arched
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48137 the bodies being arranged next to each other, e.g. on a common substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48139 with an intermediate bond, e.g. continuous wire daisy chain
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48227 connecting the wire to a bond pad of the item
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48472 the other connecting portion not on the bonding area also being a wedge bond, i.e. wedge-to-wedge
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/49109 outside the semiconductor or solid-state body
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/49111 the connectors connecting two common bonding areas, e.g. Litz or braid wires
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/49113 the connectors connecting different bonding areas on the semiconductor or solid-state body to a common bonding area outside the body, e.g. converging wires
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/49175 Parallel arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/73265 Layer and wire connectors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/3735 Laminates or multilayers, e.g. direct bond copper ceramic substrates
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 24/45 of an individual wire connector
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 24/48 of an individual wire connector
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 24/49 of a plurality of wire connectors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 25/071 the devices being arranged next and on each other, i.e. mixed assemblies
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 25/072 the devices being arranged next to each other
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 : Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00012 : Relevant to the scope of the group, the symbol of which is combined with the symbol of this group
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00014 : the subject-matter covered by the group, the symbol of which is combined with the symbol of this group, being disclosed without further technical details
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01005 : Boron [B]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01006 : Carbon [C]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01013 : Aluminum [Al]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01014 : Silicon [Si]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01023 : Vanadium [V]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01029 : Copper [Cu]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01033 : Arsenic [As]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0105 : Tin [Sn]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01068 : Erbium [Er]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01078 : Platinum [Pt]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01079 : Gold [Au]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01082 : Lead [Pb]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/014 : Solder alloys
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/12032 : Schottky diode
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/1305 : Bipolar Junction Transistor [BJT]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/13055 : Insulated gate bipolar transistor [IGBT]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/1306 : Field-effect transistor [FET]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/13063 : Metal-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor [MESFET]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/13064 : High Electron Mobility Transistor [HEMT, HFET [heterostructure FET], MODFET]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/13091 : Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor [MOSFET]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/15787 : Ceramics, e.g. crystalline carbides, nitrides or oxides
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/19041 : being a capacitor
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/206 : Length ranges
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/2076 : equal to or larger than 100 microns
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/30107 : Inductance
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/3011 : Impedance
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0306 : Inorganic insulating substrates, e.g. ceramic, glass
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/147 : at least one of the printed circuits being bent or folded, e.g. by using a flexible printed circuit H05K1/148 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/044 : Details of backplane or midplane for mounting orthogonal PCBs
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/0715 : provided by an outer layer of PCB
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/10189 : Non-printed connector
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/10287 : Metal wires as connectors or conductors
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/0061 : onto a metallic substrate, e.g. a heat sink heat sinks for electric apparatus H05K7/20
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/361 : Assembling flexible printed circuits with other printed circuits

Abstract

A power module includes a substrate that includes an upper layer, an electrical insulator and a thermal coupling layer. The upper layer includes an electrically conductive pattern and is configured for receiving power devices. The electrical insulator is disposed between the upper layer and the thermal coupling layer. The thermal coupling layer is configured for thermal coupling to a heat sink. The power module further includes at least one laminar interconnect that includes first and second electrically conductive layers and an insulating layer disposed between the first and second electrically conductive layers. The first electrically conductive layer of the laminar interconnect is electrically connected to the upper layer of the substrate. Electrical connections connect a top side of the power devices to the second electrically conductive layer of the laminar interconnect.

Claims

1. A power module comprising:

at least one substrate comprising an upper layer, an electrical insulator and a thermal coupling layer, wherein said upper layer comprises at least one electrically conductive pattern and is configured for receiving at least one power device, wherein said electrical insulator is disposed between said upper layer and said thermal coupling layer, and wherein said thermal coupling layer is configured for thermal coupling to a base plate;

at least one laminar interconnect comprising a first electrically conductive layer, an insulating layer and a second electrically conductive layer, wherein said insulating layer is disposed between said first and second electrically conductive layers, wherein said first electrically conductive layer of said laminar interconnect is electrically connected to said upper layer of said substrate; and

a plurality of electrical connections connecting a top side of the at least one power device to said second electrically conductive layer of said laminar interconnect.

2. The power module of claim 1, wherein said electrical insulator is thermally conductive.

3. The power module of claim 1, further comprising at least one heat sink, wherein said heat sink comprises said base plate, wherein said substrate is attached to said base plate.

4. The power module of claim 1, wherein said substrate comprises direct bonded copper.

5. The power module of claim 1, wherein said substrate comprises active metal braze.

6. The power module of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of power devices mounted on said substrate, wherein said power devices are electrically connected to said upper layer of said substrate.

7. The power module of claim 6, wherein said power devices comprise at least one transistor and at least one anti-parallel diode forming at least one switch, wherein said at least one switch is mounted on said electrically conductive pattern, wherein said electrical connections connect an anode of said diode to said second electrically conductive layer of said laminar interconnect.

8. The power module of claim 7, wherein said at least one transistor comprises an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) comprising a collector and an emitter, and wherein said electrical connections connect said emitter to said anode of said anti-parallel diode.

9. The power module of claim 7, wherein said at least one transistor comprises a MOSFET comprising a source and a drain, and wherein said electrical connections connect said source to said anode of said anti-parallel diode.

10. The power module of claim 7, wherein said switch comprises at least two transistors and at least two anti-parallel diodes, wherein said switch is disposed on said electrically conductive pattern and further comprises a gate formed on said electrically conductive pattern, and wherein said electrical connections symmetrically connect each of said transistors to said gate.

11. The power module of claim 6, wherein said power devices comprise a plurality of transistors, wherein at least one of said transistors is an IGBT and at least one of said transistors is a MOSFET.

12. The power module of claim 6, wherein said power devices comprise a plurality of anti-parallel diodes, wherein at least one of said anti-parallel diodes is a bipolar diode and at least one of said anti-parallel diodes is a unipolar diode.

13. The power module of claim 6, wherein said power devices comprise at least one MOSFET comprising a source and a drain, wherein said drain is soldered onto said electrically conductive pattern, and wherein said electrical connections connects said source to said upper layer of said laminar interconnect.

14. The power module of claim 1, wherein said electrical connections comprise wire bonds.

15. The power module of claim 1, wherein said electrical connections comprise at least one power overlay.

16. The power module of claim 1, wherein said electrical connections comprise ribbon bonds.

17. The power module of claim 1, wherein said electrical connections are symmetric for static and dynamic current sharing.

18. The power module of claim 1, wherein said laminar interconnect comprises an edge card connector configured for connecting to a receptacle mounted on a back plane, wherein the back plane comprises a positive direct current (DC) bus layer, an output layer, and a negative DC bus layer.

19. The power module of claim 1, further comprising at least one housing encasing said substrate.

20. A power module assembly comprising:

a plurality of power modules, each of said power modules comprising;

a substrate comprising an upper layer, an electrical insulator and a thermal coupling layer, wherein said upper layer comprises at least one electrically conductive pattern and is configured for receiving at least one power device, wherein said electrical insulator is disposed between said upper layer and said thermal coupling layer, and wherein said thermal coupling layer is configured for thermal coupling to a base plate,

an edge card connector comprising a first electrically conductive layer, an insulating layer and a second electrically conductive layer, wherein said insulating layer is disposed between said first and second electrically conductive layers, and wherein said first electrically conductive layer of said edge card connector is electrically connected to said upper layer of said substrate, and

a plurality of electrical connections connecting a top side of the at least one power device to said second electrically conductive layer of said edge card connector;

a plurality of receptacles configured to receive respective ones of said edge card connectors; and

a back plane comprising a positive direct current (DC) bus layer, an output layer, and a negative DC bus layer, wherein said receptacles are mounted on said back plane.

21. The power module assembly of claim 20, further comprising at least one heat sink for cooling said at least one power device mounted in the respective one of said power modules, wherein said heat sink comprises said base plate, and wherein said electrical insulator is thermally conductive.

22. The power module assembly of claim 20, wherein each of said substrates comprises direct bonded copper (DBC), wherein each of said power modules further comprises a plurality of power devices mounted on said electrically conductive pattern of said substrate, and wherein said electrical connections are selected from the group consisting of wire bonds, ribbon bonds, a power overlay, and combinations thereof.

23. The power module assembly of claim 22, wherein said electrical connections are symmetric for static and dynamic current sharing.

24. The power module assembly of claim 20, further comprising at least one low-inductance capacitor selected from the group consisting of a multilayer ceramic capacitor and a film capacitor, wherein said at least one low inductance capacitor is mounted on a back side of said back plane.

25. The power module assembly of claim 20, wherein each of said power modules comprises a base plate thermally coupled to said thermal coupling layer of said substrate, wherein said power module assembly comprises at least two power modules and at least two receptacles, wherein two of said power modules are arranged such that their respective base plates face each other.

26. The power module assembly of claim 20, comprising at least two power modules and at least two receptacles, wherein said two power modules and said two receptacles are arranged in a side-by-side configuration.

27. The power module assembly of claim 26, further comprising a heat sink, wherein each of said thermal coupling layers of said power modules is thermally coupled to said heat sink.

28. The power module assembly of claim 20, comprising six power modules and six receptacles, wherein four of said power modules comprise switch modules, wherein two of said power modules comprise diode modules, and wherein said power modules are arranged as a three level phase leg.

29. The power module assembly of claim 20, wherein each of said power modules comprises at least one transistor and at least one anti-parallel diode forming at least one switch, wherein said at least one switch is mounted on said electrically conductive pattern, and wherein said electrical connections connect an anode of said diode to said second electrically conductive layer of said laminar interconnect.

30. The power module assembly of claim 29, wherein said at least one transistor comprises an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) comprising a collector and an emitter, and wherein said electrical connections connect said emitter to said anode of said anti-parallel diode.

31. The power module assembly of claim 29, wherein said at least one transistor comprises a MOSFET comprising a source and a drain, and wherein said electrical connections connect said source to said anode of said anti-parallel diode.

32. The power module assembly of claim 29, wherein each of said at least one switches comprises at least two transistors and at least two anti-parallel diodes, wherein said switch is disposed on said electrically conductive pattern and further comprises a gate formed on said electrically conductive pattern, and wherein said electrical connections symmetrically connect each of said transistors to said gate.

33. The power module assembly of claim 20, wherein said power devices comprise at least one MOSFET comprising a source and a drain, wherein said drain is soldered onto said electrically conductive pattern, and wherein said electrical connections connect said source to said upper layer of said laminar interconnect.

34. The power module assembly of claim 20, wherein each of said power modules further comprises a housing encasing said substrate and said at least one switch.

35. The power module assembly of claim 20, wherein each of said substrates comprises active metal braze (AMB), wherein each of said power modules further comprises a plurality of power devices mounted on said electrically conductive pattern of said substrate, and wherein said electrical connections are selected from the group consisting of wire bonds, ribbon bonds, a power overlay, and combinations thereof.

36. The power module assembly of claim 35, wherein said electrical connections are symmetric for static and dynamic current sharing.

37. The power module assembly of claim 20 configured as a switch reluctance motor (SRM) drive and comprising at least four power modules, wherein at least two of said power modules are switch modules, wherein at least two of said power modules are diode modules, wherein said SRM drive comprises at least two phase legs, each of said phase legs comprising at least one of said switch modules and at least one of said diode modules.

38. The power module assembly of claim 37, wherein the SRM comprises N windings, where N is an integer, and said power module assembly configured as the SRM drive comprises two switch modules and two diode modules for each one of the respective N windings, wherein said SRM drive comprises 2N phase legs, each of said phase legs comprising at least one of said switch modules and at least one of said diode modules, and wherein two of said phase legs drive a respective one of the SRM windings.

39. A modular phase leg assembly comprising two power modules, each of said power modules comprising:

a heat sink,

a substrate comprising an upper layer, an electrical insulator and a thermal coupling layer, wherein said upper layer comprises at least one electrically conductive pattern, wherein said electrical insulator is disposed between said upper layer and said thermal coupling layer, wherein said substrate is attached to said heat sink, and wherein said thermal coupling layer is configured for thermally coupling to said heat sink, and

at least one switch comprising at least one transistor and at least one anti-parallel diode, wherein said at least one switch is mounted on said electrically conductive pattern;

a housing encasing said substrate and said at least one switch;

a laminar interconnect comprising a first electrically conductive layer, an insulating layer and a second electrically conductive layer, wherein said insulating layer is disposed between said first and second electrically conductive layers, wherein said first electrically conductive layer of said laminar interconnect is electrically connected to said upper layer of said substrate; and

a plurality of electrical connections connecting an anode of said at least one anti-parallel diode to said second electrically conductive layer of said laminar interconnect.

40. The modular phase leg assembly of claim 39, wherein each of said heat sinks comprises a base plate, and wherein said power modules are stacked together such that said base plate of one of said power modules faces said base plate of the other of said power modules.

41. The modular phase leg assembly of claim 39, wherein said power modules are arranged side-by-side.

42. The modular phase leg assembly of claim 39, wherein each of said switches comprises at least two transistors and at least two anti-parallel diodes, wherein each of said switches is disposed on a respective one of said electrically conductive patterns, wherein each of said switches further comprises a gate formed on the respective one of said electrically conductive patterns, and wherein said electrical connections symmetrically connect each of said transistors to a respective one of said gates.

43. The modular phase leg assembly of claim 39, wherein each of said substrates comprises direct bonded copper, and wherein each of said laminar interconnects comprises an edge card connector, said modular phase leg assembly further comprising:

two receptacles configured to receive respective ones of said edge card connectors;

a back plane comprising a positive direct current (DC) bus layer, an output layer, and a negative DC bus layer, wherein said receptacles are mounted on said back plane; and

at least one low-inductance capacitor selected from the group consisting of a multilayer ceramic capacitor and a film capacitor, wherein said at least one low inductance capacitor is mounted on a back side of said back plane.

44. A modular three phase inverter assembly comprising six power modules, each of said power modules comprising:

a heat sink,

a substrate comprising an upper layer, an electrical insulator and a thermal coupling layer, wherein said upper layer comprises an electrically conductive pattern, wherein said electrical insulator is disposed between said upper layer and said thermally conductive coupling layer, wherein said substrate is attached to said heat sink, wherein said thermal coupling layer is configured for thermal coupling to said heat sink,

at least one switch comprising at least one transistor and at least one anti-parallel diode, wherein said at least one switch is mounted on said electrically conductive pattern;

a housing encasing said substrate and said at least one switch,

a laminar interconnect comprising a first electrically conductive layer, an insulating layer and a second electrically conductive layer, wherein said insulating layer is disposed between said first and second electrically conductive layers, wherein said first electrically conductive layer of said laminar interconnect is electrically connected to said upper layer of said substrate, and

a plurality of electrical connections connecting an anode of said anti-parallel diode to said second electrically conductive layer of said laminar interconnect,

said modular three phase inverter assembly further comprising;

a plurality of receptacles configured to receive respective ones of said laminar interconnects; and

a back plane comprising a positive direct current (DC) bus layer, an output layer, and a negative DC bus layer, wherein said receptacles are mounted on said back plane,

wherein said power modules are arranged in three pairs, and wherein each of the pairs corresponds to a phase leg.

45. The modular three phase inverter assembly of claim 44, wherein each of said heat sinks comprises a base plate, and wherein said power modules forming a pair are stacked together such that said base plate of one of said power modules faces said base plate of the other of said power modules.

46. The modular three phase inverter assembly of claim 44, further comprising at least one low-inductance capacitor selected from the group consisting of a multilayer ceramic capacitor and a film capacitor, wherein said at least one low inductance capacitor is mounted on a back side of said back plane.