High current, low switching loss SiC power module

• US 9,373,617 B2
• Filed: 05/15/2014
• Issued: 06/21/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wolfspeed, Inc.
• Original Assignee: CREE Incorporated (Wolfspeed, Inc.)
• Inventors: Das, Mrinal K., Lin, Henry, Schupbach, Marcelo, Palmour, John Williams
• Primary Examiner(s): Jahan, Bilkis
• Application Number:
  US14/277,820
• Publication Number:
  US 20140246681A1
• Time in Patent Office: 768 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/046 using ion implantation
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/049 Conductor-insulator-semiconductor electrodes, e.g. MIS contacts
• 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 2224/45099 Material
• 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 2224/49111 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 2224/49431 on the semiconductor or solid-state body
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/49433 outside the semiconductor or solid-state body
• 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 27/0629 in combination with diodes, or resistors, or capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/1608 Silicon carbide
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/66068 the devices being controllable only by the electric current supplied or the electric potential applied, to an electrode which does not carry the current to be rectified, amplified or switched, e.g. three-terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/7393 : Insulated gate bipolar mode transistors, i.e. IGBT; IGT; COMFET
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/7802 : Vertical DMOS transistors, i.e. VDMOS transistors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/872 : Schottky diodes
• 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 2924/10272 : Silicon Carbide [SiC]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/1033 : Gallium nitride [GaN]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/12032 : Schottky diode
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/1301 : Thyristor
• 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 2924/13062 : Junction field-effect transistor [JFET]
• 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 2924/15153 : the die mounting substrate comprising a recess for hosting the device
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/19105 : in a side-by-side arrangement on a common die mounting substrate
• 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: H02M 7/003 : Constructional details, e.g. physical layout, assembly, wiring or busbar connections
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/5387 : in a bridge configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 7/04 : by means of a H-bridge circuit
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1432 : specially adapted for power drive units or power converters
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/10 : Technologies improving the efficiency by using switched-mode power supplies [SMPS], i.e. efficient power electronics conversion e.g. power factor correction or reduction of losses in power supplies or efficient standby modes

Abstract

A power module includes a housing with an interior chamber and multiple switch modules mounted within the interior chamber of the housing. The switch modules are interconnected and configured to facilitate switching power to a load. Each one of the switch modules includes at least one transistor and at least one diode. The at least one transistor and the at least one diode may be formed from a wide band-gap material system, such as silicon carbide (SiC), thereby allowing the power module to operate at high frequencies with lower switching losses when compared to conventional power modules.

Claims

1. A power module comprising:

a housing with an interior chamber; and

a plurality of switch modules mounted within the interior chamber and interconnected to facilitate switching power to a load wherein each of the plurality of switch modules comprises at least one transistor and at least one diode and the power module is able to block 1200 volts, conduct 300 amperes, and has switching losses of less than 20 milli-Joules.

2. The power module of claim 1 wherein the power module has switching losses greater than 1 milli-Joule.

3. The power module of claim 1 wherein the power module is configured to operate at a switching frequency of at least 50 kHz.

4. The power module of claim 1 wherein the at least one transistor is formed over a layer of aluminum nitride.

5. The power module of claim 4 wherein the plurality of switch modules are mounted to an aluminum silicon carbide base plate.

6. The power module of claim 1 wherein the at least one transistor and the at least one diode are silicon carbide (SiC) devices.

7. The power module of claim 6 wherein the at least one transistor is a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) and the at least one diode is a Schottky diode.

8. The power module of claim 7 wherein:

the plurality of switch modules consists of two switch modules;

the switch modules are coupled in series between a positive power supply terminal and a negative power supply terminal; and

an output terminal is coupled between the switch modules.

9. The power module of claim 7 wherein the at least one transistor is coupled anti-parallel with the at least one diode.

10. The power module of claim 9 wherein the at least one transistor comprises an array of transistors effectively coupled in parallel and the at least one diode comprises an array of diodes effectively coupled in parallel.

11. A power module comprising:

a housing with an interior chamber;

at least a first power substrate within the interior chamber, the first power substrate including one or more switch modules on a first surface of the first power substrate for facilitating switching power to a load, wherein the one or more switch modules comprise at least one transistor and at least one diode; and

a gate connector coupled to a gate contact of the at least one transistor via a signal path that includes a first conductive trace on the first surface of the power substrate.

12. The power module of claim 11 wherein the power module is configured to operate at a switching frequency of at least 50 kHz.

13. The power module of claim 11 wherein the power module further comprises a pair of output contacts arranged such that an area of at least 150 mm² of each one of the output contacts is located less than 1.5 mm from the other output contact.

14. The power module of claim 11 wherein the at least one transistor is formed over a layer of aluminum nitride.

15. The power module of claim 14 wherein the one or more switch modules are mounted to an aluminum silicon carbide base plate.

16. The power module of claim 11 further comprising a second power substrate that is separate from the first power substrate and comprises a second conductive trace on a first surface of the second power substrate wherein the second conductive trace forms a part of the signal path.

17. The power module of claim 16 wherein:

the gate contact of the at least one transistor is coupled to the first conductive trace via a first wire bond;

the gate connector is coupled to the second conductive trace via a second wire bond; and

the first conductive trace and the second conductive trace are connected via a third wire bond.

18. The power module of claim 11 wherein the power module is able to block 1200 volts, conduct 300 amperes, and has switching losses of less than 20 milli-Joules.

19. The power module of claim 18 wherein the power module further comprises a pair of output contacts arranged such that an area of at least 150 mm² of each one of the output contacts is located less than 1.5 mm from the other output contact.

20. The power module of claim 11 wherein the at least one transistor and the at least one diode are silicon carbide (SiC) devices.

21. The power module of claim 20 wherein the at least one transistor is a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) and the at least one diode is a Schottky diode.

22. The power module of claim 21 wherein:

the one or more switch modules consist of two switch modules;

the switch modules are coupled in series between a positive power supply terminal and a negative power supply terminal; and

an output terminal is coupled between the switch modules.

23. The power module of claim 21 wherein the at least one transistor is coupled in anti-parallel with the at least one diode.

24. The power module of claim 23 wherein the at least one transistor comprises an array of transistors effectively coupled in parallel and the at least one diode comprises an array of diodes effectively coupled in parallel.

25. A power module comprising:

a housing with an interior chamber;

a pair of output contacts arranged such that an area of at least 150 mm² of each one of the output contacts is located less than 1.5 mm from the other output contact; and

a plurality of switch modules mounted within the interior chamber and interconnected to facilitate switching power from a power source coupled between the output contacts to a load, the plurality of switch modules comprising at least one transistor and at least one diode.

26. The power module of claim 25 wherein the power module is configured to operate at a switching frequency of at least 50 kHz.

27. The power module of claim 25 wherein the power module is able to block 1200 volts, conduct 300 amperes, and has switching losses less than 20 milli-Joules.

28. The power module of claim 25 wherein the at least one transistor is formed over a layer of aluminum nitride.

29. The power module of claim 28 wherein the plurality of switch modules are mounted to an aluminum silicon carbide base plate.

30. The power module of claim 25 wherein the at least one transistor and the at least one diode are silicon carbide (SiC) devices.

31. The power module of claim 30 wherein the at least one transistor is a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) and the at least one diode is a Schottky diode.

32. The power module of claim 31 wherein:

the plurality of switch modules consists of two switch modules;

the switch modules are coupled in series between a positive power supply terminal and a negative power supply terminal; and

an output terminal is coupled between the switch modules.

33. The power module of claim 31 wherein the at least one transistor is coupled in anti-parallel with the at least one diode.

34. The power module of claim 33 wherein the at least one transistor comprises an array of transistors effectively coupled in parallel and the at least one diode comprises an array of diodes effectively coupled in parallel.