Over-Current Capability of Silicon Carbide and Silicon Devices for Short Power Pulses with Copper and Phase Change Materials below the Chip

Shubhangi Bhadoria (), Frans Dijkhuizen, Xu Zhang, Li Ran and Hans-Peter Nee
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Shubhangi Bhadoria: School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 11428 Stockholm, Sweden
Frans Dijkhuizen: Hitachi Energy Research, 72178 Västerås, Sweden
Xu Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi′an Jiaotong University, Xi′an 710049, China
Li Ran: School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
Hans-Peter Nee: School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 11428 Stockholm, Sweden

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 2, 1-21

Abstract: An increasing share of fluctuating and intermittent renewable energy sources can cause over-currents (OCs) in the power system. The heat generated during OCs increases the junction temperature of semiconductor devices and could even lead to thermal runaway if thermal limits are reached. In order to keep the junction temperature within the thermal limit of the semiconductor, the power module structure with heat-absorbing material below the chip is investigated through COMSOL Multiphysics simulations. The upper limits of the junction temperature for Silicon (Si) and Silicon Carbide (SiC) are assumed to be 175 and 250 ∘ C, respectively. The heat-absorbing materials considered for analysis are a copper block and a copper block with phase change materials (PCMs). Two times, three times, and four times of OCs would be discussed for durations of a few hundred milliseconds and seconds. This article also discusses the thermal performance of a copper block and a copper block with PCMs. PCMs used for Si and SiC are LM108 and Lithium, respectively. It is concluded that the copper block just below the semiconductor chip would enable OC capability in Si and SiC devices and would be more convenient to manufacture as compared to the copper block with PCM.

Keywords: bonding techniques; copper; heat-absorbing materials; high-temperature; junction temperature; new layouts; over-current; packaging; phase change materials; power modules; wide band gap semiconductors (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: 2024
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