High power semiconductor switch module

• US 5,563,447 A
• Filed: 09/07/1993
• Issued: 10/08/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Delphi Technologies, Inc. (Aptiv PLC)
• Original Assignee: Delco Electronics Corporation (Motors Liquidation Co. GUC Trust)
• Inventors: Eytcheson, Charles T., Alhoussami, Aiman I., Lake, deceased, Donald E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jackson, Jerome
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kelley, Nathan K.
• Application Number:
  US08/117,924
• Time in Patent Office: 1,127 Days
• Field of Search: 257/724, 257/730, 257/723, 257/691, 257/692, 257/693, 257/729, 361/717, 361/729
• US Class Current: 257/724
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/0603 Bonding areas having different sizes, e.g. different heights or widths
• 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 2224/49109 outside the semiconductor or solid-state body
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/73265 Layer and wire connectors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/645 Inductive arrangements H01L23/647, H01L23/66 take precedence
• 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 25/072 the devices being arranged next to each other
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 25/18 the devices being of types provided for in two or more different subgroups of the same main group of groups H01L27/00 - H01L33/00, or in a single subclass of H10K, H10N
• 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 2924/00014 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 2924/01087 Francium [Fr]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/10253 Silicon [Si]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/12042 LASER
• 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 2924/13091 Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor [MOSFET]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/19107 : off-chip wires
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/207 : Diameter ranges
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/30107 : Inductance
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/3011 : Impedance
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/003 : Constructional details, e.g. physical layout, assembly, wiring or busbar connections

Abstract

A high power module containing high power, high frequency semiconductor switching devices and methods of operating the same that provide high power and low inductance. The module incorporates compositional, geometrical and electrical symmetry. The module also includes short internal leads, special IC chip substrates, trimmable gate lead resistances, a special composite metal/ceramic baseplate, and a special terminal conductor overlap.

Claims

1. A high power semiconductor device module capable of operating at high frequency comprising;

a housing defining a chamber, said housing having a baseplate;

an input conductor having a predetermined low electrical resistance, a predetermined configuration, and a first total electrical impedance;

an output conductor having an electrical resistance and total electrical impedance substantially the same as said input conductor, and a configuration that allows said input and output conductors to substantially overlap one another;

said input and output conductors in substantial overlap, whereby input and output current flow through said conductors during operation of said device is substantially equal but opposite in direction, effective to substantially neutralize inductance of each such current flow;

at least one metallized ceramic substrate disposed in said chamber on said baseplate in close proximity to said input and output conductors said ceramic substrate substantially smaller in major surface area than said baseplate;

one high voltage and high current insulated gate semiconductor switching device affixed to said ceramic substrate within a distance from said input and output conductors that is not substantially greater than about the maximum dimension of said device;

said device being the only high voltage and high current insulated gate semiconductor switching device affixed to said ceramic substrate;

effective to provide a semiconductor device module operable at high frequency but having minimized inductance.

2. The module of claim 1 wherein the insulated gate semiconductor device is a semiconductor chip having a given length, and such chip has input and output connectors between it and said conductors that are not substantially greater than about the length of said chip.

3. The module of claim 2 wherein the connectors make direct connections between said chip and said input and output conductors.

4. The module of claim 3 wherein the connectors between input and output conductors are substantially parallel to each other in at least one plane, and are in close proximity that is effective to at least partially cancel their respective inductances.

5. The module of claim 1 including a second metallized ceramic substrate disposed in said chamber and a second high voltage and high current insulated gate semiconductor switching device affixed to said second ceramic substrate within a distance from said input and output conductors that is not substantially greater than about the maximum dimension of said second device, said one device and said second device being insulated gate transistor chips which are substantially matched in electrical performance as affixed, and input and output connections to said chips being similar in impedance,

effective to provide insulated gate transistors having matched maximum current levels, and thereby permitting such transistors to operate close to their maximum current levels but at low module inductance.

6. The module of claim 1 wherein said chamber contains a plurality of discrete similar substrates, each of said substrates has a matched insulated gate transistor chip is mounted on it.

7. The module of claim 6 wherein each substrate contains a single transistor chip, and the chips on said substrates have matched electrical performance as mounted and connected,

effective to provide a module with transistors that can all be operated close to their maximum performance level with significantly reduced impedance.

8. The module of claim 7 wherein said module contains a gate connector lead from each of said transistors to a gate conductor lead, and a trimmable resistance electrically in series with at least one of said connectors for equalizing gate voltage applied to all of said transistors from said gate conductor lead.

9. The module of claim 8 wherein a beam trimmable resistance is electrically in series with each of said connectors for closely matching gate voltage applied to each transistor gate electrode from said gate conductor lead.

12. The high power semiconductor device module of claim 1 wherein the high power insulted gate semiconductor switching device is an insulted gate bipolar transistor.

10. A high power semiconductor device module capable of operating at high frequency comprising;

a housing defining a chamber;

an input conductor having a predetermined low electrical resistance and a predetermined configuration, said conductor configuration having a first portion disposed within said chamber for low electrical resistance connection to a high power insulated gate semiconductor switching device and also having a terminal portion disposed outside said chamber for low electrical resistance mechanical connection to an external bus, said input conductor having a first impedance to the flow of electrical current therethrough;

an output conductor having an electrical resistance similar to and a configuration complementary to said input conductor, including a first portion disposed within said chamber to said high power insulated gate semiconductor switching device and also having a terminal portion disposed outside said chamber for low resistance mechanical connection to an external bus, effective to have an impedance substantially the same as that of said first impedance and a configuration that allows said input and output conductors to be disposed close to one another inside and outside of said chamber;

said input and output conductors complementarily disposed closely together with at least said first portion in an overlapping disposition but spaced apart by a layer of dielectric material, whereby input and output current flow through said conductors during operation of said device is substantially equal but opposite in direction, effective to substantially neutralize inductance of each such current flow;

at least two high voltage and high current insulated gate semiconductor switching devices symmetrically disposed within said chamber with respect to said terminals for providing uniformity in their electrical connections to said input conductor and further providing uniformity in their electrical connections to said output conductor, and disposed in close proximity to said conductors for reducing respective electrical impedance therebetween, said insulated gate switching devices having substantially equal electrically performance characteristics;

input electrical connections of substantially the same impedance between each of said insulated gate switching devices and said input conductor;

output electrical connections of substantially the same impedance between each of said insulated gate switching devices and said output conductor, and in at least one plane physically substantially parallel to and in general proximity of said input and output connections is substantially equal but in opposite directions, which substantially neutralizes their respective inductances,

effective to provide a high power semiconductor device module operable at high frequency but having minimized inductance and switching devices that can all be operated at near their own maximum current levels.

13. The high power semiconductor device module of claim 10 wherein the high voltage and high current insulated gate semiconductor switching device are insulated gate bipolar transistors.

11. A high power semiconductor device module capable of operating at high frequency comprising;

a housing defining a chamber;

an input conductor having a predetermined low electrical resistance and a predetermined configuration, said conductor configuration having a first portion disposed within said chamber for low electrical resisitance connection to a high power insulated gate semiconductor switching device and also having a terminal portion disposed outside said chamber for low electrical resistance mechanical connection to an external bus, said input conductor having a first impedance to the flow electrical current therethrough;

an output conductor having an electrical resistance similar to and a configuration complementary to said input conductor, including a first portion disposed within said chamber and also having a terminal portion disposed outside said chamber for low resistance mechanical connection to an external bus, effective to have an impedance substantially the same as that of said first impedance and a configuration that allows said input and output conductors to be disposed close to one another inside and outside of said chamber;

said input and output conductors complementarily disposed closely together with at least said first portion in substantial overlapping disposition but spaced apart by a layer of dielectric material, whereby input and output current flow through said conductors during operation of said device is substantially equal but opposite in direction, effective to substantially neutralize inductance of each such current flow;

at least two groups of high voltage and high current insulated gate semiconductor switching devices symmetrically disposed within said chamber with respect to said terminals for providing uniformity in their electrical connections to said input conductor and further providing uniformity in their electrical connections to said output conductor, each such device disposed in close proximity to said conductors for reducing respective electrical impedance therebetween, said insulated gate switching devices having substantially equal electrical performance characteristics and each group comprises a single switch;

input electrical connections of substantially the same impedance between each of said insulated gate switching devices and said input conductor;

output electrical connections of substantially the same impedance between each of said insulated gate switching devices and said output conductor, and in at least one plane physically substantially parallel to and in general proximity of said input electrical connections, whereby current flow through said input and output connections is substantially equal but in opposite directions, which substantially neutralizes their respective inductances, and

a gate conductor bus in said module and connection means between a gate electrode each of said at least two insulated gate semiconductor switching devices and said gate conductor bus, which connection means provides substantially the same electrical potential to all of said gate electrodes;

effective to provide a high power semiconductor device module with two semiconductor switches operable at high frequency but having minimized inductance and also having switching devices that can all be operated at near their own maximum current levels.

14. A high power semiconductor device module capable of operating at high frequency comprising;

a housing defining a chamber;

an input conductor having a predetermined low electrical resistance and a predetermined configuration, said conductor configuration having a first portion disposed within said chamber for low electrical resistance connection to a high power insulated gate semiconductor switching device and also having a terminal portion disposed outside said chamber for low electrical resistance mechanical connection to an external bus, said input conductor having a first impedance to the flow electrical current therethrough;

an output conductor having an electrical resistance similar to and a configuration complementary to said input conductor, including a first portion disposed within said chamber and also having a terminal portion disposed outside said chamber for low resistance mechanical connection to an external bus, effective to have an impedance substantially the same as that of said first impedance and a configuration that allows said input and output conductors to be disposed close to one another inside and outside of said chamber;

said input and output conductors complementarily disposed closely together with at least said first portion in substantial overlapping disposition but spaced apart by a layer of dielectric material, whereby input and output current flow through said conductors during operation of said device is substantially equal but opposite in direction, effective to substantially neutralize inductance of each such current flow;

at least two high voltage and high current insulated gate semiconductor switching devices symmetrically disposed within said chamber with respect to said terminals for providing uniformity in their electrical connections to said input conductor and further providing uniformity in their electrical connections to said output conductor, and disposed in close proximity to said conductors for reducing respective electrical impedance therebetween, said insulated gate switching devices having substantially equal electrical performance characteristics and each group comprises a single switch;

input electrical connections of substantially the same impedance between each of said insulated gate switching devices and said input conductor;

output electrical connections of substantially the same impedance between each of said insulated gate switching devices and said output conductor, and in at least one plane physically substantially parallel to and in general proximity of said input electrical connections, whereby current flow through said input and output connections is substantially equal but in opposite directions, which substantially neutralizes their respective inductances, and

a gate conductor bus in said module and connection means between a gate electrode each of said at least two insulated gate semiconductor switching devices and said gate conductor bus, at least one of which connection means includes a trimmable resistance unit in series with its gate electrode and all of said connection means provide substantially the same electrical potential to all of said gate electrodes;

effective to provide a high power semiconductor device module with two semiconductor switches operable at high frequency but having minimized inductance and also having switching devices that can all be operated at near their own maximum current levels.

30. A high power semiconductor device module such as described in claim 14 in which a trimmable resistance unit is included in series with the gate electrode of each of said devices for setting the gate potential applied to each device to a predetermined level when a voltage of a given level is applied to the gate terminal means.

31. The high power semiconductor device module of claim 14 wherein the high power insulated gate semiconductor switching device is an insulated gate bipolar transistor.

15. A high power semiconductor device module capable of operating at high frequency and low parasitic losses comprising;

a housing defining a chamber;

an input conductor having a given composition and configuration, said conductor configuration having a first portion disposed within said chamber for low electrical resistance and inductance connection to a high power insulated gate bipolar transistor and further including a terminal portion disposed outside said chamber for low electrical resistance mechanical connection to an external bus, said input conductor having a given electrical resistance and inductance with respect to electrical current flow therethrough;

an output conductor having a composition similar to and a configuration of size and shape substantially the same as said input conductor, including a first portion disposed within said chamber for low resistance electrical connection to a high power insulated gate bipolar transistor and further including a terminal portion disposed outside said chamber for low electrical resistance mechanical connection to an external bus, effective to have said given electrical resistance and inductance and further effective to permit nesting of said input and output conductors together in closely spaced relationship with at least said first portions in substantially completely overlapping disposition;

said input and output conductors nested together in said closely spaced and substantially completely overlapping disposition, whereby input and output current flow through said conductors is substantially equal but opposite in direction, effective for the inductance of one to substantially cancel the inductance of the other;

at least two high voltage and high current insulated gate bipolar transistor chips symmetrically disposed within said chamber with respect to said terminals for providing mutual uniformity in their electrical connection to said input conductor and mutual uniformity in their electrical connection to said output conductor, and disposed in close proximity to said terminals for reducing actual electrical inductance and resistance of electrical connections therebetween, said insulated gate bipolar transistors being mounted on separate ceramic substrates and having substantially equal electrical performance characteristics as-mounted;

an input electrical connection between each of said insulated gate bipolar transistor chips and said input conductor that is not substantially longer than a maximum dimension of any of said transistor chips, each such input connection being essentially the same composition and configuration, and thereby providing symmetry in input connection resistance and inductance;

an output electrical connection between each of said insulated gate bipolar transistor chips and said output conductor that is not substantially longer than a maximum dimension of any of said transistor chips, each such output connection being of the same composition and general configuration as the others, and thereby providing symmetry in output connection resistance and inductance;

at least a portion of the input and output connections for each insulated gate bipolar transistor in substantially parallel and proximate disposition to each other at least in one plane, whereby inductances of input and output connections at least partially cancel;

a gate conductor means having a first portion disposed within said chamber in non-overlapping disposition with respect to said input and output conductors and during operation of said device supply substantially equal gate voltage and current to each of said insulated gate bipolar transistors, and further having a terminal portion disposed outside said chamber for low electrical resistance mechanical connection to a source of gate control voltage; and

gate electrical connections of substantially the same composition and impedance between each of said insulated gate bipolar transistors and said gate conductor means;

effective to provide a high power semiconductor device module operable at high frequency but having minimized inductance and capable of operating all of said insulated gate bipolar transistors at substantially identical operating levels.

16. The high power module of claim 15 wherein at least one of said gate electrical connections and said gate conductor means includes resistors means for equalizing gate voltage supplied to each of said high power semiconductor switching devices.

17. The high power module of claim 15 wherein said gate conductor means includes a plurality of resistors that are effective to supply a predetermined gate voltage to each of said insulated gate bipolar transistor when given voltage is applied to said gate conductor, effective to obtain a precisely predetermined operating level from each such transistor from said given voltage.

18. The high power module of claim 17 in which said gate conductor means includes a trimmable resistor for each of said transistors that precisely determines that said operating level is the same for each mounted transistor.

19. A high power module containing a plurality of high power switching transistor chips, comprising:

a thermally conductive baseplate having a given thermal expansion coefficient;

a plurality of semiconductor switching transistor substrate subassemblies on said baseplate, a thermally conductive bond between said subassemblies and said baseplate;

each of said semiconductor switching transistor substrate subassemblies including a ceramic wafer having a first major surface of a given area not significantly larger than would accommodate only one high power switching transistor chip and also having an opposed second major surface of substantially said given area, wherein each major surface is substantially completely metallized but spaced from the other major surface by ceramic of said wafer;

only one such high power switching transistor chip affixed to each of said semiconductor switching transistor substrate subassemblies, said chip being thermally conductively bonded to said completely metallized first major surface;

a terminal member closely and substantially equally spaced from each of said subassemblies on said substrate; and

an electrically conductive bond directly between each subassembly metallized surface having said chip thereon and said terminal, all such bonds being physically similar and providing an electrical connection of essentially the same low impedance between each of said subassemblies and said terminal member.

20. The high power module of claim 19 in which the switching transistor chip is an insulated gate bipolar transistor.

21. A high power semiconductor device module capable of operating at high frequency comprising:

a baseplate of a metal/ceramic composite material in which the metal provides high thermal conductivity and said ceramic provides a relatively low coefficient of expansion, and the total mass has sufficient strength to form a rugged module housing base;

a housing on said baseplate defining a chamber;

an input conductor having a predetermined low electrical resistance and configuration, and a first total electrical impedance;

an output conductor having a electrical resistance and total electrical impedance substantially the same as said input conductor;

said input and output conductors in substantial overlap, whereby input and output current flow through said conductors during operation of said module is substantially equal but opposite in direction, effective to substantially reduce combined total inductance; and

at least one composite substrate subassembly in the chamber, with a semiconductor switching device on the composite substrate subassembly,

effective to provide a semiconductor device module operable at high frequency but having minimized inductance and high power.

22. The module of claim 21, wherein the baseplate and the substrate subassembly have a coefficient of expansion similar to that of silicon.

23. The module of claim 22 wherein the metal is selected from the group consisting of copper and aluminum.

24. The modulep of claim 22 wherein the semiconductor switching device in the substrate subassembly is an insulated gate bipolr transistor, and said baseplate is non-liminated.

25. The module of claim 22 wherein a plurality of composite substrates assemblies and semiconductor switching devices are disposed in said chamber, each composite substrate subassembly includes a copper/beryllium oxide/copper laminated substrate, each such device is supported on its own separate such substrate, each such substrate is similar top the other such substrates and is supported on said baseplate, and said baseplate is a non-liminated metal/ceramic composite having a coefficient of expansion similar to substrates.

26. The module of claim 25 wherein said baseplate is has an interior chamber, and inlet to said chamber and an outlet to said chamber, effective to allow a fluid to be passed through said baseplate for cooling the baseplate.

27. The module of claim 25 wherein the baseplate has a coefficient of expansion similar to that of said substrate subassembly and at least one coolant passage therein, with an inlet and an outlet to said coolant passage, and a coolant passage extends under substantially the entirety of each laminate, effective to cool said substrate subassemblies substantially equally.

28. A high power semiconductor device module capable of operating at high frequency comprising;

a housing defining a chamber, said housing having a baseplate;

an input conductor having a predetermined low electrical resistance, a predetermined configuration, and a first total electrical impedance;

an output conductor having an electrical resistance and total electrical impedance substantially the same as said input conductor, and a configuration that allows said input and output conductors to substantially overlap one another;

said input and output conductors in substantial overlap, whereby input and output current flow through said conductors during operation of said device is substantially equal but opposite in direction, effective to substantially neutralize inductance of each such current flow;

at least two metallized ceramic substrates symmetrically disposed in said chamber on said baseplate in close proximity to said input and output conductors said ceramic substrate substantially smaller in major surface area than said baseplate;

A first high voltage and high current insulated gate semiconductor switching device affixed to one of said ceramic substrates within a distance from said input and output conductors that is not substantially greater than about the maximum dimension of said device, said device being the only high voltage and high current insulated gate semiconductor switching device affixed to said one ceramic substrate;

effective to provide a semiconductor device module operable at high frequency but having minimized inductance;

a second high voltage and high current insulated gate semiconductor switching device affixed to the other of said ceramic substrates within a distance from said input and output conductors that is not substantially greater than about the maximum dimension of said device, said device being the only high voltage and high current insulated gate semiconductor switching device affixed to said other ceramic substrate;

said first and second high voltage and high current devices substantially matched in electrical performance as mounted;

input and output connectors extending between each of said devices and said input and output conductors, each connector being not substantially greater in length than said maximum dimension of said device, wherein all such connectors have substantially the same impedance and the input and output connectors to each device are in close proximity to each to each other and parallel to each other in at lest one plane; and

an adjustable value resistance in series with a source of gate potential to at least one of the high voltage high current devices for matching gate voltage applied to both of said first and second devices.

29. A high power semiconductor device module capable of operating at high frequency comprising;

a housing defining a chamber;

an input conductor having a predetermined low electrical resistance and a predetermined configuration, said conductor configuration having a first portion disposed within said chamber for low electrical resistance connection to a high power insulated gate semiconductor switching device and also having a terminal portion disposed outside said chamber for low electrical resistance mechanical connection to an external bus, said input conductor having a first impedance to the flow of electrical current therethrough;

an output conductor having an electrical resistance similar to and a configuration complementary to said input conductor, including a first portion disposed within said chamber and also having a terminal portion disposed outside said chamber for low resistance mechanical connection to an external bus, effective to have an impedance substantially the same as that of said first impedance and a configuration that allows said input and output conductors to be disposed close to one another inside and outside of said chamber;

said input and output conductors complementarily disposed closely together with at least said first portion in substantial overlapping disposition but spaced apart by a layer of dielectric material, whereby input and output current flow through said conductors during operation of said device is substantially equal but opposite in direction, effective to substantially neutralize inductance of each such current flow;

at least two high voltage and high current insulated gate semiconductor switching devices symmetrically disposed within said chamber with respect to said terminals for providing uniformity in their electrical connections to said input conductor and further providing uniformity in their electrical connections to said output conductor, and disposed in close proximity to said conductors for reducing respective electrical impedance therebetween, said insulated gate switching devices having substantially equal electrical performance characteristics and comprise a single switch;

input electrical connections of substantially the same impedance between each of said insulated gate switching devices and said input conductor;

output electrical connections of substantially the same impedance between each of said insulated gate switching devices and said output conductor, and in at least one plane physically substantially parallel to and in general proximity of said input electrical connections, whereby current flow through said input and output connections is substantially equal but in opposite directions, which substantially neutralizes their respective inductances;

a gate conductor bus in said module; and

connection means between said gate conductor bus an a gate electrode on each of said at least two insulated gate semiconductor switching devices which connection means provides substantially the same electrical potential to each such gate electrode;

effective to provide a high power semiconductor device module operable at high frequency but having minimized inductance and switching devices that can all be operated at near their own maximum current levels.