Temperature Estimation of SiC Power Devices Using High Frequency Chirp Signals

Xiang Lu, Volker Pickert, Maher Al-Greer, Cuili Chen, Xiang Wang and Charalampos Tsimenidis
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Xiang Lu: School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Volker Pickert: School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Maher Al-Greer: School of Computing, Engineering and Digital Technologies, Teesside University, Middlesbrough TS1 3BX, UK
Cuili Chen: Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich, Boltzmann Strasse 3, 85748 Garching by Munich, Germany
Xiang Wang: School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Charalampos Tsimenidis: School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 16, 1-15

Abstract: Silicon carbide devices have become increasingly popular in electric vehicles, predominantly due to their fast-switching speeds, which allow for the construction of smaller power converters. Temperature sensitive electrical parameters (TSEPs) can be used to determine the junction temperature, just like silicon-based power switches. This paper presents a new technique to estimate the junction temperature of a single-chip silicon carbide (SiC) metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). During off-state operation, high-frequency chirp signals below the resonance frequency of the gate-source impedance are injected into the gate of a discrete SiC device. The gate-source voltage frequency response is captured and then processed using the fast Fourier transform. The data is then accumulated and displayed over the chirp frequency spectrum. Results show a linear relationship between the processed gate-source voltage and the junction temperature. The effectiveness of the proposed TSEPs is demonstrated in a laboratory scenario, where chirp signals are injected in a stand-alone biased discrete SiC module, and in an in-field scenario, where the TSEP concept is applied to a MOSFET operating in a DC/DC converter.

Keywords: junction temperature estimation; silicon carbide metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor; frequency response analysis; temperature sensitive electrical parameters; signal injection; reliability of power devices (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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