ISSN: 1863-5598
Electronics in Motion and Conversion
ZKZ 64717
11-15
November 2015
o-f.de
The VARIS™ concept –
flexible power based on
a modular concept
VARIS™ – the modular inverter system
The modular and flexible design of VARIS™ offers compelling benefits. The
desired power can be easily achieved via parallel connection of the modules.
You are also free to choose your preferred cooling type. And the use of
standard components makes VARIS™ both cost-efficient and sustainable.
Talk to the House of Competence, because VARIS™ fears no comparison.
●
●
●
●
●
IGBT classes: 1200 V or 1700 V, up to 1400 A
Parallel connection
engineered by
Air or water cooling
Compatible rectifier VARIS™ R
Compact and powerful with VARIS™ XT
GvA Leistungselektronik GmbH | Boehringer Straße 10 - 12 | D-68307 Mannheim
Phone +49 (0) 621/7 89 92-0 | www.gva-leistungselektronik.de | VARIS@gva-leistungselektronik.de
Welcome to the House of Competence.
Low speed
OptoLock
Robust connector for bare POF
termination – Plugless!
Visit us:
DC-2 Mbps
DC-10Mbps
for 200 m over POF
for 100 m over POF
Green LightCONTENTRed Light
Hall 1 · Booth 651
news.mevpower.com
IGBT driver links
Galvanic Isolation
Optical Ethernet
power@mev-elektronik.com
Read online and search for key subjects from all articles in Bodo’s
Power Systems by going to Powerguru: www.powerguru.org
Viewpoint .......................................................................................... 4
Less Loss, More Efficiency!
Events ............................................................................................... 4
News .............................................................................................. 6-8
Blue Product of the Month ............................................................ 10
flowBOOST4w Products
Vincotech
Market ........................................................................................ 12-13
Energy Conversion Congress and Exhibition Montreal – ECCE 2015
By Donald E. Burke, senior editor Bodo’s Power Systems
Guest Editorial ............................................................................... 14
The Year of Wireless Power
By Graham Robertson, VP Marketing IDT
VIP Interview............................................................................... 16-17
Breakfast with John Palmour of Wolfspeed
By Donald E. Burke, senior editor, Bodo’s Power Systems
Cover Story ............................................................................... 18-21
Low Loss High-Power Thyristors for Industrial Applications
By Jan Vobecký, Karlheinz Stiegler, Roger Siegrist
and Florian Weber, ABB Switzerland Ltd. – Semiconductors
High Power Switch ................................................................... 22-23
B-TRAN – Bi-Directional Bi-Polar Junction Transistor
By Bill Alexander, CTO, Ideal Power
Power Supply ............................................................................ 24-26
Adding Flexibility to AC/DC Power Supply Design
that Uses PFC+LLC Topology
By Zhihong Yu, AC/DC & Lighting Product Marketing Manager;
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.
Power Supply ............................................................................ 28-31
Powering IGBT Drivers with Fly-Buck™
By Xiang Fang, Applications Engineer, Texas Instruments
IGBT Driver ............................................................................... 32-34
Driving and Protecting up to 150A 1200V- Class IGBTs
By Marco Honsberg, Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V and
Yo Habu Power Device Works, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Japan
Lighting ..................................................................................... 36-39
How to use a small microcontroller to control the LED driver for a
dimmable triac
By Kristine Angelica Sumague, Application Engineer and
Mark Pallones, Team Lead, Microchip Technology Inc.
Technology ................................................................................ 44-46
BiAgX®: High-Temperature Lead-Free (Pb-free) Solder Paste
By Andy C. Mackie, PhD, MSc, Senior Product Manager, and
HongWen Zhang, PhD, Research Metallurgist, Indium Corporation,
Passive Components ............................................................... 48-52
The Focus is on Passive Components for Further Gains in SMPS
Efficiency ( Part 2 )
By Dr.-Ing. Artur Seibt
New Products............................................................................. 54-64
Power Electronics Capacitors
DC link capacitors
AC filter capacitors
Snubber capacitors
www.bodospower.com
November 2015
Bodo´s Power Systems®
1
ZEZ SILKO, s.r.o., Pod Černým lesem 683, 564 01 Žamberk, Czech Republic
tel.: +420 465 673 111, fax.: +420 465 612 319, e-mail: zez@zez-silko.cz, www.zez-silko.cz
The Gallery
ABB’s New Low Loss
High-Power Thyristors
for Industrial Applications
2
Bodo´s Power Systems®
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
Simple, Easy Solutions
The New Art of Angle Sensing
A
ed
Co
n
tro
Ul
tr
a
t,
s
a
-F
e Sensing for Positio
l
g
n
n an
te A
u
dS
l
o
s
pe
b
l
3-
Ph
as
eB
LDC
Co
mmutation Outpu
ts
d
e
t
ra
g
e
Int
MagAlpha MA300 Features
• UVWSignalsforBlockCommutation
• 12-BitResolutionAbsoluteAngleEncoder
• 500kHzRefreshRate
• Ultra-Low Latency: 3µs
www.monolithicpower.com
© 2015 Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. Patents Protected. All rights reserved.
• SerialInterfaceforDataReadoutandSettings
• 10-Bit Incremental Output (A, B, Z)
• Built-InLinearizationforSide-ShaftMounting
• 7.5mA Supply Current
Follow us on:
VIEWPOINT
CONTENT
A Media
Katzbek 17a
D-24235 Laboe, Germany
Phone:+49 4343 42 17 90
Fax: +49 4343 42 17 89
editor@bodospower.com
www.bodospower.com
Publishing Editor
Bodo Arlt, Dipl.-Ing.
editor@bodospower.com
Senior Editor
Donald E. Burke, BSEE, Dr. Sc(hc)
don@bodospower.com
UK Support
June Hulme
Phone: +44(0) 1270 872315
junehulme@geminimarketing.co.uk
Creative Direction & Production
Repro Studio Peschke
Repro.Peschke@t-online.de
Free Subscription to qualified readers
Bodo´s Power Systems
is available for the following
subscription charges:
Annual charge (12 issues)
is 150 € world wide
Single issue is 18 €
subscription@bodospower.com
circulation
print run 24 000
Printing by:
Druckhaus Main-Echo GmbH & Co KG
63741 Aschaffenburg, Germany
A Media and Bodos Power Systems
assume and hereby disclaim any
liability to any person for any loss or
damage by errors or omissions in the
material contained herein regardless
of whether such errors result from
negligence accident or any other cause
whatsoever.
Events
productronica 2015,
Munich, Germany, November 10-13
http://productronica.com
Less Loss,
More Efficiency!
The world demand for energy grows continuously. Established methods of power generation each have unacceptable side effects:
oil, gas or coal produce CO2 emissions,
nuclear entails tremendous risk. Renewable
energy has been provided for a long time
through hydro power-plants. More recently,
wind power and solar generation operates
successfully all over the world. You should
read the report from Energy Watch Group
and Lappeenranta University of Technology
that shows the significant progress made in
establishing renewable energy – a summary
is included under News in the magazine.
The European Conference on Power
Electronics and Applications (EPE)/Energy
Conversion Conference and Exhibition
(ECCE) in Geneva, Switzerland, made it very
clear that engineers are struggling to achieve
more efficient systems. To this end, the new
wide band gap (WBG) switching devices are
beginning to replace traditional silicon MOSFETs and IGBTs. Active switching components are showing a significant contribution
to reduced switching and conduction loss.
Now it is time for passive components, inductors and capacitors, to follow up and reduce
losses where ever possible.
Thermal management is an important aspect
of design. The wide band gap semiconductors can operate at a higher temperature,
therefore packaging and passive components need to be capable of temperatures
that silicon semiconductors did not require.
Dr. Seibt’s article in October covers these
subjects, and it is continued in this November
issue.
Soon the productronica in Munich will showcase the manufacturing side while sps/ipc/
drives in Nuremberg points out solutions.
We have delivered eleven issues this year.
All technical articles are archived on my website and are also retrievable at PowerGuru.
Bodo’s Power Systems reaches readers
across the globe. If you speak the language,
or just want to have a look, don’t miss our
Chinese version: www.bodoschina.com
My Green Power Tip for November:
We throw things away too quickly. If you
have space, store them for your reuse, or
better yet, put them on eBay and donate the
proceeds to UNICEF. Many children need
support in education - which is the soundest
route to a more peaceful world.
Regards
CWIEME Istanbul,
Turkey, November 18-20
http://coilwindingexpo.com/Istanbul/BPS/
sps ipc drives 2015,
Nuremberg, Germany, November 24-26
http://www.mesago.de/de/SPS/home.htm
4
Bodo´s Power Systems®
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
/
C
0
IP
S/ ves 31
SP ri A.
D
l3
al
H
The Perfect Fit
HLSR
The perfect fit for your design: a cost-effective current transducer that out-performs
shunts in every way. The compact package of the HLSR requires only 387 mm2, less
board area than many shunt solutions. Large clearance/creepage distances ensure
safety, and high performance produces accurate measurements across a wide
temperature range of -40°C to +105°C. The LEM HLSR – a single compact device that
eliminates complexity in your design.
The LEM HLSR series:
• High performance open-loop ASIC based
current transducer
• 10ARMS, 20ARMS, 32ARMS, 40ARMS and 50ARMS
nominal current versions
• Single +5V or +3.3V power supply
• Fast response time: 2.5 µs
• Full galvanic isolation
• 8 mm clearance/creepage + CTI 600
• Low offset and gain drifts
• Over-drivable reference voltage
• Through-hole and SMT packages
www.lem.com
At the heart of power electronics.
CONTENT
NEWS
SEMIKRON Innovation Award and the Young Engineer Award
Both have been initiated and are donated by the SEMIKRON FoundaØ SEMIKRON Young Engineer Award*
tion are given for outstanding innovations in projects, prototypes, serincludes prize money of EUR 3.000,00.
vices or novel concepts in the field of power electronics in Europe,
* for researchers who have not yet
combined with notable societal benefits in form of supporting environcompleted their 30th year of age.
mental protection and sustainability by improving energy efficiency
The selection procedure for the prize
and conservation of resources.
winners is organised in cooperaRelease
SEMIKRON Foundation is awarding the prizes Press
in cooperation
with the
tion with ECPE European Center for
European ECPE Network.
Power Electronics e.V.. The submitted
With the awards the SEMIKRON Foundation wants to motivate
proposals will be passed to an independent and neutral evaluation
Google Little Box Challenge – ECPE sponsors 6 Competence Centre Teams
people of all ages and organisations of any legal status to deal with
committee of experts for discussion and assessment. To apply for the
innovations in power electronics, a key technology
of the
21th century,
SEMIKRON
Awards
ownECPE
applications
as wellCentres
as proposals
third
ECPE
supports
six research
teams from
different
Competence
with afrom
financial
in order to improve environmental protection and
sustainability
by
arehigh
welcomed.
donation
to promote
theirparties
work on
power density inverters in the frame of the Google
Little Box Challenge. Google
is offering
$1proposal
million for
theyour
most
compactwith
power
electronics
energy efficiency and conservation of resources.
Please
send your
resp.
application
the reference
inverter
the
kW power ´SEMIKRON
range with anInnovation
efficiencyAward´
> 95%.by email to Thomas Harder, General
The SEMIKRON Innovation and Young Engineer
Prizesin
will
be2awarded in the frame of the ECPE Annual Event in March 2016 in NuremManager of ECPE e.V., thomas.harder@ecpe.org.
Nuremberg/Germany, 18th March 2015 – The Little
berg. A single person or a team of researchers can be awarded.
The deadline for
submission ends on 10.01.2016. The receipt of your
Box Challenge is a design contest presented by Google
Ø SEMIKRON Innovation Award includes prize money of EUR
proposal will beinconfirmed
by with
email.
cooperation
the IEEE Power Electronics Society
10.000,00.
to spur innovation in power inverter design. The aim is to
www.ecpe.org
design a power inverter with
the smallest size and the
highest power density > 50 W/in3 (~ 3 kW/litre). The
inverter should be shrinked down from the current size
to something less than the size of a tablet computer. The
ultimate idea for the competition in the end is more
solar-powered homes as well as more efficient
This book addresses how power conversion
distributed electrical grids and it brings electricity to the
systems will continue to improve in order to
most remote parts of the planet.
keep pace with the rapid improvements in
power
and the
need for efficient
A computing
considerable
number
of universities
and research institutes from the ECPE Network have
data centers.
a focus on
the challenge
use of and intend to submit a technical concept as well as a
registered
for theWith
participation
in this
demonstrator
of their inverter.
high performance
GaN technology, this
DC-DC handbook goes through step-by-step
In this context the ECPE European Center for Power Electronics e.V. decided to sponsor the
analysis of how to create power conversion
ECPE Competence Centre Teams who have registered for the challenge with a financial donation of
solutions using GaN devices. The analysis
7.500 € for each team. The six research teams are from University of Nottingham (UK), ETH
makes
direct performance
comparisons
with
Zurich
(CH)/Fraunhofer
IZM Berlin
(D), Universidad
Politécnica de Madrid (ES), University of
state-of-the-art
silicon power
transistors
tradiStuttgart
(D), Reutlingen
University
(D) and
University of Bristol (UK).
tionally used in power conversion systems.
UpDC-DC
to 18 finalist
teamsAwill
be invitedtotoGaN
the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in
Conversion:
Supplement
Golden,
Colorado,
USA to bring
inverters is
for extended testing (up to approximately 100 hours)
Transistors
for Efficient
Powertheir
Conversion
at NREL’s Energy Systems Integration Facility. When they come to Colorado, the finalists will also
available for $39.95 and can be purchased
be invited to attend an event hosted by Google, IEEE PELS and NREL where they will get a chance
from Digi-Key (www.digikey.com), or from
to discuss and present on their designs. The grand price winner is expected to be announced in
Amazon.com.
January 2016.
DC-DC Conversion Handbook, to Taking
Full Advantage of GaN Transistors
EPC’s DC-DC Conversion handbook is a
guide showing how to achieve increased
efficiency and power density in Datacom
equipment and other power conversion applications using GaN power transistors.
The demand for information is growing at
unprecedented rates and society’s insatiable
appetite for communication, computing
and downloading, is driving this demand.
With emerging technologies, such as, cloud
computing and the internet of things, not
to mention the 300 hours of video being
loaded to YouTube every minute, this trend
for more and faster access to information is
showing no signs of slowing…and this is the
challenge that motivated the writing of this
practical engineering handbook – DC-DC
Conversion: A Supplement to GaN Transistors for Efficient Power Conversion
ECPE wishes good
luck and success to the ECPE Competence Centre teams.
www.epc-co.com
ABB Semiconductors Website now Available in Chinese
Since the end of 2013, ABB Semiconductors website visitors have
Due to the two production sites of ABB Semiconductors in Lenzburg,
been enjoying a new web experience. The new layout with more
Switzerland, and Prague, Czech Republic, the next languages to
pictures and tiles make it a lot easier to find specific contents without
follow are German and Czech later this year and French and Italian
ECPE European Centernext
for Power
endless navigation.
year.Electronics e.V., Landgrabenstr. 94, 90443 Nuremberg, Germany
www.ecpe.org
-
info@ecpe.org
-
Tel. +49 (0)911 810 288 0
-
FAX +49 (0)911 810 288 28
www.abb.com/semiconductor
Following the importance of the Chinese market and the clear results
from web statistics, we now released the ABB Semiconductors website in Chinese: http://new.abb.com/semiconductors/zh.
Our Chinese customers find on our website a vast number of documents such as product brochures, data sheets, application notes,
technical publications as well as the latest ABB Semiconductors
news, SEMIS simulation tool and other useful Semiconductors product information.
6
Bodo´s Power Systems®
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
Ride the Rails!
Power Amplifier Operates on
2500V Rail-to-Rail Power Supply
The PA99 is an industry first 2500V power operational amplifier that
targets the increased voltage demands of ATE and programmable
power supply applications. This general purpose op amp operates
with symmetric or asymmetric supplies as long as the voltage
between the positive and the negative supply rail does not exceed
the maximum supply voltage specification.
Designed to provide up to 50mA of output current, the PA99 is fully
capable of sourcing and sinking current for use in a wide variety of
applications that drive any combination of resistive, inductive and
capacitive loads. This small footprint, single package hybrid also
has an output current limit function that can be set through external
resistors to prevent runaway currents. Temperature monitoring is
provided through a temperature sensing diode, and under typical
operating conditions, the PA99 can achieve slew rates of 28V/µs.
apexanalog.com/bodospa99
© 2015 Apex Microtechnology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product information is subject to change without notice.
The Apex Microtechnology logo is a trademark of Apex Microtechnology, Inc. BPS092015
HERMETICALLY SEALED
12-PIN POWERDIP
1.66” x 3.669” [42.2mm x 93.2mm] Footprint
Power up at www.apexanalog.com/bodospa99
CONTENT
NEWS
International Energy Agency Holds Back Global Energy Transition
Energy Watch Group and Lappeenranta University of Technology
analysis shows that the IEA has consistently undermined potential of
solar and wind energy in the last decade. Energy Watch Group makes the International Energy Agency responsible for consistently underestimating the potential of renewable
energy and promoting conventional energy sources. The new study by Energy Watch Group and Lappeenranta University
of Technology, released September 22nd, comes to the conclusion
that the International Energy Agency (IEA) annual reports World
Energy Outlook (WEO) between 1994 and 2014 have been publishing
misleading projections on solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy.
The WEO has significant impact on both political and economic decisions of world governments regarding energy. “The IEA has been holding back the global energy transition for
years. The false WEO predictions lead to high investments in fossil
and nuclear sector, hinder global development of renewable energy
and undermine the global fight against climate change”, President of
Energy Watch Group and former Member of the German Parliament
Hans-Josef Fell said. Although solar PV and wind have grown exponentially for the last decades and are expected to continue growing in the decades to come,
the IEA keeps assuming linear growth for these technologies, meaning no growth of the annual installations. According to WEO projections, by 2030 renewable energy is expected to provide only 14% of
global electricity supply, whereas assuming the average growth rates
of the last 20 years the projection would be close to 60%.
“Despite the rapidly growing markets for solar PV and wind energy,
the WEO dramatically undervalues their potential, which leads to fatal
projections”, the study lead author and professor of Solar Economy
at Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland Christian Breyer
said. “From a scientific point of view, these structural errors are incomprehensible, from a social perspective they are irresponsible.” The WEO reports are being approved by OECD governments, some
of which have high stakes in conventional industry. Therefore, the
Energy Watch Group calls the scientific community and civil society to
examine closer political and business dependencies within IEA. The full study (in English) is available:
http://energywatchgroup.org/wp-content/uploads
/2015/09/EWG_WEO-Study_2015.pdf
Announcing New Non-Isolated Digital Point-of-Load Standard
Architects of Modern Power (AMP Group™) consortium announced
a standard aimed at establishing common mechanical and electrical
specifications for the development of advanced power conversion
technology for distributed power systems. The ‘picoAMP™’ standard, designed for the lower range of the spectrum for board-level
conversion needs, provides customers with a non-isolated standards
platform ranging from 6 A to 18 A. The standard defines a compact
footprint of 12.2 x 12.2 mm in a land-grid-array (LGA) format.
The new ‘picoAMP’ standard builds on the previously released ‘teraAMP™’ standard for non-isolated digital point-of-load (POL) dc-dc
converters, released in February 2015, and the ‘microAMP™’ and
‘megaAMP™’ standards released during electronica in November
2014. The first products to meet with this new ‘picoAMP’ standard will
be announced by AMP Group members later in the year.
www.CUIGlobal.com
productronica: Central gathering
for the PCB and EMS industry
Transparent, prominent, on the pulse of time: For the first time ever,
this year’s productronica will depict the sectors for PCB manufacturing and electronics manufacturing services (EMS) in the new PCB &
EMS cluster in Hall B1. The world’s leading trade fair invites visitors
and exhibitors to gather information and join the dialog about the latest hot topics such as Industry 4.0 at the PCB & EMS Marketplace—
among other things at the various technical lectures on EMS Highlight
Day on November 11, 2015, which is being organized by the Central
Association of the German Electrical and Electronics Industry (ZVEI).
productronica takes place from November 10–13, 2015.
www.productronica.com/messe
SENSOR+TEST 2016 in New Halls
Home Stretch for Best Locations and Conditions
“Every year the SENSOR+TEST is the highlight on our event calendar,” says Matthias Bopp, CEO of the Micronas group. And he is not
the only one: Exhibitors at the worldwide leading trade fair for sensor,
measuring, and testing technology appreciate the comprehensive
professionalism of the visitors from all major industries and the high
quality inquiries, giving them best grades.
But as in all endeavors, the motto, “the early bird gets the worm,” applies here as well. In fact, it is especially true for this SENSOR+TEST
with its special topic “Measuring in the Cloud,” to be held from the
10th to the 12th of May 2016 for the first time in Halls 1, 2, and 5 of
the Nuremberg Exhibition Center. This gives exhibitors completely
new opportunities for stand locations. “Many exhibitors have already
used the chance to put their wishes for expansion into practice by
booking their preferred floor spaces in the new halls,” says Holger
Bödeker from AMA Service GmbH, the fair organizers.
Moreover, anyone wanting to participate at the best possible conditions should act now:
www.sensor-test.de
8
Bodo´s Power Systems®
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
AC/DC CONVERTERS
n High Voltage
n High Robustness n High Integration
ROHM Semiconductor offers a wide line-up of AC/DC Controllers for external MOSFET as well as fully
integrated converters with internal MOSFETs.
Highlight:
AC/DC Converter IC for SiC-MOSFET Driving
Why using SiC MOSFET for AC/DC?
• High Voltage Operation possible with Low RON & Qg
• Less components (no high voltage clamper,
no gate clamper, less cooling)
• Compact solution
BD7682FJ Key Features
• Quasi – Resonant DC/DC converter
• Integrated Gate Driver optimized
for driving of SiC MOSFET
• Low VCC current (19µA @VCC = 18.5V)
• Burst function at light load
• Max. Frequency Controlled (120kHz)
• VCC Over/Under Voltage Protection
• Brown IN/OUT Function
• DC/DC Soft Start
• 250 nsec Leading-Edge Blanking
• Over Load Protection ( 128 ms Timer )
Technology for you
Sense it
Light it
Optimum System for Driving SiC MOSFET
Power it !
www.rohm.com/eu
BLUE PRODUCT
CONTENTOF THE MONTH
flowBOOST4w Products
Symmetrical boost stage, onboard capacitors, optional snubber diodes and
low inductive interface for 100 to 200 kVA three-phase PFC applications
Vincotech, a supplier of module-based solutions for power electronics, today announced the release of its new flowBOOST4w modules
designed for UPS and other three-phase PFC applications with power
ratings from 100 to 200 kVA and switching frequencies from 8 to 20
kHz.
These modules serve online UPS and other applications requiring
three-phase, three-level active PFC where high conversion efficiency
and switching frequencies are needed to cut the size and cost of
PFC chokes. Onboard capacitors prevent destructive turn-off voltage
overshooting. An optional snubber diode and a low inductive interface
support switching lossregeneration. The latter also enables an ultra
low inductive connection with a normal PCB board, in which case the
high-power connection no longer needs to be low inductive. The integrated NTC sensor provides a temperature signal to ensure reliable
protection for the module.
Power range 100 kVA to .200 kVA
70-W206NBA400SA-M786L
70-W206NBA600SA-M788L
70-W206NBA400SA01-M786L10
70-W206NBA600SA01-M788L10
2x 600V/400A
2x 600V/600A
2x 600V/400A
2x 600V/600A
tally sound solutions that help modern society embrace mega-trends
and explore new avenues.
Vincotech – an affiliated company within the Mitsubishi Electric
Corporation – develops and manufactures subsystems and electronic
components and provides manufacturing services that help customers master complex challenges in electronics integration. Vincotech’s
extensive portfolio encompasses standard and tailored solutions,
engineering services, and technical support for customers worldwide.
These products and services contribute to sustainable, environmen-
With approximately 500 employees worldwide, backed by vast experience and a long history in electronics integration, Vincotech leverages
these assets to help customers achieve maximum market success.
To learn more about Vincotech, please visit:
www.vincotech.com
Profit from More than 40 years experience
in general and power electronics
Design of complete or parts of SMPS, lamp ballasts, LED ps, D amplifiers, motor electronics, amplifiers,
measuring instruments, critical analog hardware. Experience with SiC and GaN. EMI expertise.
Minimum design times and favorable costs due to experience and a large stock of SMPS components.
Assistance with your own designs in any design phase. Design approvals, failure analyses,
Redesigns to weed out problems or to reduce cost.
Seminars, Articles and Books. Translations of technical and other critical texts
German - English, English - German, French - German, French - English.
Former manager of R & D / managing director in D, USA, NL, A.
Consultant and owner of an electronics design lab since 23 yrs.
140 publications resp. patent applications, inventor of
the current-mode control in SMPS (US Patent 3,742,371).
DR.-ING. ARTUR SEIBT
Lagergasse 2/6
A1030 Wien (Vienna)
Austria
Names and business affairs of clients are kept strictly confidential.
10
Bodo´s Power Systems®
November 2015
Tel.:+43-1-5058186
Fax:
5037084 Mobile:+43-699-11835174
email: dr.seibt@aon.at
http:// members.aon.at/aseibt
www.bodospower.com
Power, performance
and control
Unleash the full potential of power management with Intersil’s
complete portfolio of advance digital power modules.
Intersil’s advance digital power modules are designed to meet the
demands of next generation data servers, networking and telecom
systems with performance and flexibility that extend over the lifetime
of the application.
•
Optimize power density and efficiency with high-power, highperformance compact modules.
•
Monitor and control your power supply in real time with the
complete built-in telemetry of our PMBus-compatible modules.
•
Design easily with PowerNavigator™ software, which lets you
visualize an entire power system from one GUI.
NEW
DIGITAL DC/DC
PMBus MODULE
IOUT (A)
V IN
RANGE (V)
VOUT
RANGE (V)
ZL9006M
6A
4.5–13.2
0.6–3.3
ZL9010M
10A
4.5–13.2
0.6–3.3
ZL9101M
12A
4.5–13.2
0.6–3.3
ZL9117M
17A
4.5–13.2
0.6–3.3
ISL8270M
25A
4.5–14
0.6–5.0
ISL8271M
33A
4.5–14
0.6–5.0
ISL8272M
50A
4.5–14
0.6–5.0
ISL8273M
80A
4.5–14
0.6–2.5
To learn more about our newest
digital power module, the 80A ISL8273M,
visit www.intersil.com/products/isl8273m
CONTENT
MARKET
Energy Conversion Congress and
Exposition – ECCE 2015 Montreal
A congenial atmosphere for personal interactions, a sense of community, and increased
industry participation – all objectives of Liuchen Chang’s extensive conference committee,
and all well met.
By Donald E. Burke, senior editor Bodo’s Power Systems
About 1,000 attendees from 37 countries attended the opening reception in the picturesque atrium of the Intercontinental Hotel and the
conversations began, amidst delightful musical and vocal entertainment. With the participation of members of the IAS and PELS societies supporting the function, about 1,500 engineers were in Montreal
for ECCE 2015.
The conference attendance was an increase of 10%, and a record
number, as were the number of accepted papers, 988, organized into
148 Oral and 3 Poster sessions (all had been juried by an immense
group of over 1300 IEEE reviewers).
Industry participation,
in addition to their
contributions to many
of the technical papers,
was best represented in
the Exhibition Hall, also
expanded from previous years. It began with
an evening reception
(funded by Opal·Rt),
where over 50 exhibit
booths attracted the
attention of engineers,
as well as by the first
of three Poster Sessions held adjacent to
the exhibit space. The
exhibition continued all
the next day, through
lunch and refreshment
Liuchen at Breakfast
breaks, with a good deal
of mixing. A unique feature was a small area for Student teams to
demonstrate their hardware, all quite advanced as might be expected.
Outside the exhibition hall where people sought a quiet space to chat,
a delightful acclaimed harpist lightened the mood, while portrait art
from Suraj Sadan graced the halls.
Well, amidst all this, what were the dominant themes ? There were
two, both well known to Energy Conversion specialists: the power
switch evolution into Wide Bandgap devices, and secondly, the evolution of power generation via renewable energy sources, distributed
but networked into a smarter grid.
These topics were reflected in the four Plenary speeches: Dr. Don
Tan of Northrup Grumman described an integrated network of a
12
Bodo´s Power Systems®
spacecraft power system; Dr. John Palmour of Wolfspeed (nèe Cree)
reviewed his company’s technologies in Silicon Carbide, and Dr.
Gaetan Lantagne of Hydro Quebec describing the immensity of the
Hydro Quebec power network and the impact of simulation tools saving a GigaWatthour here, a GigaWatthour there, etc., but a daunting prospect for electronic systems. And David Durocher described
progress in the Industry Applications Society.
Of course everyone was vying to understand the relative positions
of Silicon Carbide and Gallium Nitride development, at the moment,
that is. In a Town Hall format, six experts presented their views. John
Palmour of Wolfspeed described the maturing of Silicon Carbide
switches, development of Gen III designs, and programs from 900V to
27 kV; John Roberts of GaN Systems covered the technology behind
an impressive 100 A, 650 Volt product that has reached commercial
status; General Electric emphasized their return to the electronic
hardware field with SiC 450 A, 1700 V Power Blocks and 1 MW
inverter system; and Infineon described their current programs in GaN
products, following their acquisition of IR.
An Exhibit Discussion
Was there a consensus? Well, let me try some: the uneasy demilitarized zone between GaN and SiC has shrunk to between 700 and 900
Volts; first level packaging, as in Modules, is poorly supported with
current industry packages, so new “non-standard” developments with
less inductance and higher temperature materials can be expected;
the debate as to how much of the switch Figure of Merit ends up in
actual circuit performance is continuing and will depend on circuit
techniques; no question that commercial usage of WBG has begun
with a big impact on system performance, and Universities are having
a ball with this stuff.
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
CONTENT
MARKET
A very lively banquet was enjoyed by 1200 diners, with interesting
participatory music throughout, and a delicious menu that embraced
universal dietary preferences. Yes, Engineers can relax!
w w w. e l e c t r o n i c o n . c o m
Scan me!
High Voltage and Low Inductance
The Banquet party
And here is David Durocher cutting a big cake to celebrate IAS’s fiftieth birthday, with IAS and PELS committee executives looking on.
Our recommendation for applications where low self-inductance
is to be combined with high currents or voltages.
Plenty of capacitance (and absolutely no liquids) in
flame-retardant plastic housing.
• Special coating patterns for up to 50kVDC/30kVAC • available with exceptionally low PD levels for extended life
• SINECUTTM windings with SecuMetTM metallization for
exceptional current strength
• Low-inductance connection through robust terminals
IAS Cake
We were reminded of several ECCE’s in 2016: in Hefei, China,
IPEMC/ECCE-Asia in May; ECCE 2016 in Milwaukee, USA, in
September; and EPE 2016/ECCE-Europe in Karlsruhe, Germany, in
September.
We all owe a debt to Lauren Deaton and Courtesy Associates for their
great logistical management of ECCE 2015.
donaldb4@ieee.org
http://2015.ecceconferences.org/
HIGH VOLTAGES, HEAVY CURRENTS, AND LOW INDUCTANCE
ELECTRONICON Kondensatoren GmbH
· Keplerstrasse 2 · Germany - 07549 Gera
Fon: +49 365 7346 100 · email: sales@electronicon.com · web: www.electronicon.com
www.bodospower.com
November 2015
Bodo´s Power Systems®
13
GUEST
CONTENT
EDITORIAL
The Year of Wireless Power
By Graham Robertson, Vice President, Corporate Marketing, IDT
Major milestones in wireless power have
been few and far between. The first
came in 1831, when Michael Faraday
discovered electromagnetic induction
and another in the late 1800s, when
Nikola Tesla began conducting tests
transmitting power by inductive and
capacitive coupling.
Then, nothing. For the entire 20th
Century.
Well over 100 years since Tesla first lit electric lamps wirelessly outside his New York laboratories, wireless power has finally made it into
the consumer market, with store shelves making room for electronic
products that can charge without the need for cords or cables. In fact,
early this year, analysts deemed 2015 the Year of Wireless Power.
And in many ways, it has been. This nascent feature has been
integrated into category-leading products such as smartphones by
Samsung, LG and others, and wearables like the Apple Watch. The
wireless charging capability has also been integrated into less obvious products, like with transmitters implanted in IKEA furniture and
lamps as well as a Samsung monitor. And why not? Wireless charging brings distinct advantages. It’s more convenient than having to
constantly plug in a cable, and it eliminates the hassle and expense of
replacing worn cables. And, we can all agree, it’s just cool.
So given the obvious advantages of wireless power, why isn’t virtually
every new electronic product featuring this popular capability? Why
hasn’t adoption come faster, broader, deeper?
Up to this point, wireless power (primarily magnetic induction at this
point, though magnetic resonance isn’t too far behind) has largely
fallen into the domain of “Tier 1” companies—the internationally recognized brands like those mentioned above. There’s a simple explanation for this: Transmitting and receiving power without the benefit of
wires is a tricky business. It requires engineering expertise that many
companies simply don’t have in-house because they never needed
it. And the semiconductor companies that possess this expertise and
experience—IDT and a handful of competitors—have been devoting
our resources to support the Tier 1 high-volume customers with their
custom designs.
In addition to the hardware, there is a vast array of support material-instructional videos, user manuals, foreign object detection (FOD)
tuning guides, layout guides, layout instantiation modules, schematics, bill-of-materials (BOM), Gerber files, and more.
Of course, when the idea for these kits was first hatched and adopted
in April, we thought we were onto something good. But we didn’t know
for sure until two months later, when Fed Ex delivered the first boards
to our headquarters. We opened the boxes and gave a kit to one of
our engineers, asking him to see what he could do with it. About 3
and a half hours later, he’d turned a set of headphones that charged
through metal prongs in a cradle into a set of headphones that
charged through magnetic induction. In less than a half day’s work,
he’d created a working prototype.
So why would a headphone maker want to change from prongs in
a cradle to magnetic induction? Turns out that the most common
product failure for this product is the charging system—the prongs
would get corroded or otherwise degraded. And there are other practical concerns that move wireless charging beyond the “cool” and “less
hassle” factors. Consider kitchen appliances. It’s no secret that water
and electricity don’t play well together. Wireless charging through
magnetic induction enables a closed, waterproof system, ideal for
kitchens, bathrooms and marine environments.
We’re not the only ones who saw the potential for change these could
bring. David Green, research manager, Power Supplies & Wireless
Power at IHS, wrote: “Integrating wireless power capabilities into
existing electronics is a complex process, and one of the factors that
has unquestionably slowed its adoption throughout the electronics
industry. This approach of providing self-contained, ready-to-go wireless charging kits has the potential to change the landscape for those
not yet equipped.”
And early indicators suggest the landscape will be changing soon.
Since launch, we’ve had inquiries, orders and even design-ins from
a remarkably broad set of companies representing, among others,
the entertainment, travel and marine industries. Our Web site has received visitors from all corners of the globe seeking information about
this new approach. With all these companies having first-time access
to these new magnetic induction capabilities, it appears the Year of
Wireless Power will extend well into 2016 and beyond.
To be certain, we’ve had inquiries and interest from a wide variety of
companies with an even wider range of applications. We’ve had to
say no, sorry, can’t help you with that. Until now.
www.idt.com
In August, IDT introduced 5 W wireless power kits for the mass market. We’ve democratized wireless power by developing pre-configured
transmitter and receiver boards that engineers can implement into
existing designs within hours to create a working prototype. This plugand-play ease of use has dramatically reduced barriers to entry; engineering teams no longer require in-house expertise in wireless power
because most of the heavy lifting has already been done by IDT.
14
Bodo´s Power Systems®
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
Allegro Motion Control
Brush DC Motor Driver IC Solutions
Allegro MicroSystems offers a complete lineup of DC motor driver ICs
for all markets, including office automation, automotive and industrial.
• Low standby current for energy efficiency
• Internal DMOS outputs or gate controllers to
drive external MOSFETs
• Parallel interfaces with forward, reverse, coast,
and brake modes
• Commercial grade and fully automotive qualified
drivers
• Small footprint and reduced external components
• Strong protection and diagnostic features
Applications include:
Office Automation
- Inkjet / laser printers
- Copiers
- Office equipment peripherals
Industrial
- Power tools
- Factory automation
- Gaming electronics
- Scanners
- Vending machines
Automotive
- HVAC systems
- Hydraulic pumps
- Actuators
- Electronic Power
Steering (EPS)
Representatives
ALLREM
94616 Rungis Cedex, FRANCE
Tel: +33 (0) 1 56 70 03 80
E-mail: info@allrem.com
Allegro MicroSystems Germany GmbH
Adlerweg 1, D-79856 Hinterzarten, GERMANY
Phone: +49-(0)7652-9106-0
Fax: +49-(0)7652-767
E-mail: info.germany@allegromicro.com
Consystem S.r.l.
I-20144 Milano, ITALY
Tel: +39 02 4241471
Website: www.consystem.it
E-mail: support@consystem.it
www.allegromicro.com/camp1136
VIPCONTENT
INTERVIEW
Breakfast with
John Palmour of Wolfspeed
By Donald E. Burke, senior editor, Bodo’s Power Systems
At ECCE 2015 in Montreal, I had
the opportunity to interview Dr. John
Palmour, Chief Technology Officer
of Wolfspeed, the newly named
Power and RF division of Cree, with
a portfolio of SiC diodes, transistors
and IGBT’s, and microwave devices.
Wolfspeed (Cree) products have been
at the forefront of the Wide Bandgap
materials revolution in the Power Transistor market. Wolfspeed is currently
wholly owned by Cree, in anticipation
of an IPO in 2016. John was one of
the original “wolfpack” group of researchers that founded Cree in 1987.
tion. The possibilities of a blue LED were not fully understood in the
beginning, so a revolution in lighting was not the immediate goal. We
were focused on blue LEDs for full color displays and on SiC diodes
and switches and their possibilities for electronics.
Don Burke: Now that Wolfspeed is operating as a separate business,
what changes can we expect? And where did the name “Wolfspeed”
come from?
John Palmour: Well, the product development program is quite well
set, very challenging as it is, and we continue on much the same plan.
This is a very dynamic business – so opportunities in the market and
to our technology innovations will undoubtedly make for change.
I expect we will be even more agile in responding to these. I also
expect that having independent access to capital will speed up investment, as it will now relate to the needs of Wolfspeed alone, rather
than having to balance our needs versus those of Cree’s LED business. I anticipate that this will quicken our pace – not that we have
been slow to date.
Don Burke: I see you have recently added 900 V products, lower
than the acknowledged turf for SiC. What was the motivation for this,
will you be going lower, and in general, what will be the voltage range
for your products?
John Palmour: I’m not sure we
cede any particular voltage as unfit for SiC – the product has a lot of
advantages as a switch, so where
these make sense, products will
probably evolve. The 900 V line
was a response to a particular
application opportunity – well covered in our article in the September issue of Bodo’s magazine. We
continue to improve our 1200 V
technology with our third generation C3M designs; we are actively
developing products at voltages
up to 15 kV where IGBT structures
make sense; and doing advanced
development up to 27 kV.
Don Burke: Will Wolfspeed introduce GaN power Transistors?
John Palmour: We do have a long history of producing GaN transistors, possibly more devices than anyone, but they are all directed
to RF applications, and it represents a large segment of our current
business. So we think we have a good understanding and capability
in GaN technology.
But to answer your question – no, we have no current plans to enter
the lower voltage applications with GaN. We believe that high voltage
products in SiC bring a better value proposition to the market.
We were very much part of the environment at North Carolina State
University, and proud of the NCSU Wolfpack sports teams. So that
nickname for our research group came pretty naturally. Wolfspeed is
a good company name because it recognizes our roots and describing our products, which are all high speed semiconductors. The wolf
is also an amazing animal - we don’t think of it so much as a predator,
but rather as a smart and agile animal that functions best in a group.
Don Burke: Did you six researchers fully understand the impact your
work would have?
John Palmour: We always had an understanding that SiC could be
a big game-changer, but truthfully we were really focused on our immediate work, so a societal change was only a background motiva-
16
Bodo´s Power Systems®
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
VIPCONTENT
INTERVIEW
Don Burke: Wolfspeed now has a few
Module products, as well as chips in many
modules of other companies. What is your
plan for Modules?
John Palmour: We do recognize that customers appreciate the packaged contribution
that a multi-die module provides. And we
salute the reliable performance and excellent
engineering that many module manufacturers have introduced. We ourselves have
added modules with conventional layouts to
our product line as a way to get started in
module manufacturing.
However, to take advantage of SiC performance, improved modules with far less parasitics; better access to gating; and capable
of higher temperatures are required. These
will undoubtedly result in different outline
dimensions and connections than standard
modules tailored for Silicon. We have active
programs in development for new designs.
We need to identify early-adopter customers
that will design advanced products around
new, non-standard, module designs.
YOU CAN’T COPY
EXPERIENCE
Don Burke: Which kind’a brings us to the
APEI subject. What’s behind this?
John Palmour: APEI had a strong capability
in device packaging. Many of these are specialty, high performance types. So we look to
marry their capabilities with that of Wolfspeed
and see what can be done. The acquisition is
too early to have produced new products as
yet, but we’re working on it.
Don Burke: Wolfspeed has produced demonstrator Solar Inverter designs. Does this
indicate an intention of Wolfspeed to begin
equipment manufacture?
John Palmour: No, no plans, and particularly not for solar inverters as that industry
has been so hard hit with changes in government support. The combination of Wolfspeed
and APEI does have some very good system
expertise however, and we hope that we can
put that to work to assist our customers with
designs and value propositions that complement their business.
Don Burke: Thanks for the discussion John;
breakfast was tasty; and your views are interesting. Wolfpacks are known for their strong
family support, and as a WBG industry
leader, the Power Electronics community will
look for guidance from Wolfspeed. Good luck
with your new business!
www.wolfspeed.com
donaldb4@ieee.org
www.bodospower.com
PRECISION AND POWER RESISTORS
We invented the Manganin® resistance alloy 125
years ago. To this day, we produce the Manganin®
used in our resistors by ourselves.
More than 20 years ago, we patented the use of
electron-beam welding for the production of resistors, laying the foundation for the ISA-WELD®
manufacturing technology (composite material of
Cu-MANGANIN®-Cu). We were the first to use this
method to manufacture resistors. And for a long
time, we were the only ones, too.
Today, we have a wealth of expertise based on
countless projects on behalf of our customers. The
automotive industry’s high standards were the driving force behind the continuous advancement of
our BVx resistors. For years, we have also been
leveraging this experience to develop successful
industrial applications.
The result: resistors that provide unbeatable
excellent performance, outstanding thermal
characteristics and impressive value for money.
Innovation by Tradition
Isabellenhütte Heusler GmbH & Co. KG
Eibacher Weg 3 – 5 · 35683 Dillenburg ·Phone +49 (0) 2771 934-0 · Fax +49 (0) 2771 23030
sales.components@isabellenhuette.de · www.isabellenhuette.de
November 2015
Bodo´s Power Systems®
17
COVER
CONTENT
STORY
Low Loss High-Power Thyristors
for Industrial Applications
Though one of the oldest semiconductor devices ever, the thyristor maintains a significant
market share. This is because of its attractive priceperformance ratio mainly due to the
lowest ON-state losses and the easiest processing from existing gated switches. ABB has
developed a new range of thyristors offering very low ON-state voltage drop, low leakage
current and high blocking stability without compromising the AC voltage waveform.
The safe operation temperature is up to Tjmax = 115°C with sufficient margin assuring a
reliable operation in demanding industrial applications like static VAR compensators,
cycloconverters or hydro-electric applications.
By Jan Vobecký, Karlheinz Stiegler, Roger Siegrist and Florian Weber,
ABB Switzerland Ltd. – Semiconductors
A Phase Control Thyristor (PCT) can be found in power supplies, motor drives, induction heating, power quality systems, hydro pumping
and other applications. It is the main semiconductor switch, when the
lowest ON-State voltage drop is a must. It is therefore not surprising
that the development effort of high-power PCTs proceeds towards the
devices with even lower losses for given blocking stability.
Following the successful development of the PCT for High-Voltage
Direct Current transmission (HVDC) [1, 2], ABB introduces the same
design concept also to industrial applications. Since the new concept
provides significantly lower ON-state voltage drop VT and leakage
current, while maintaining the original blocking capability, it is suitable
for the operation at temperatures higher than that of the HVDC Classic systems from ABB. The operation up to Tjmax = 115°C and its
impact on device parameters relevant for the industry is demonstrated
below for the PCT in the package with 100 mm pole piece diameter
(see Fig.1). The most relevant parameters to be improved from a
customers´ perspective are
• ON-state voltage drop VT – reverse recovery charge Qrr (losses),
• AC blocking capability up to the full repetitive peak blocking voltages VDRM and VRRM,
• Surge current ITSM (overload ruggedness).
There are generally three ways of increasing the output current of an
inverter/converter:
• Reduction of overall (ON-state and switching) losses,
• Reduction of thermal resistance of the package,
• Increase of the maximal junction operation temperature Tjmax.
In our new device concept, the first improvement option has been
chosen. This has been supplemented by the reduction of leakage current, which has brought an improved blocking ruggedness.
Design Concept
The new device concept is based on thinning the P-type anode and
P-base layers in the active area, while leaving their original thickness
at junction termination (JT) in order to maintain the original blocking
capability. The example for double-side negative bevel used in the
device under discussion is shown in Figure 2.
JT
Cathode
AG Gate
Cathode
JT
N-base
Anode
Figure 2: New design concept. P-type layers are red and pink, N-type
layers blue and light blue
Figure1: New
8.5 kV PCT with
100 mm pole
piece for industrial applications.
18
Bodo´s Power Systems®
In the bulk, where the N-base is thicker than at the JT, the leakage
current caused by the punch-through effect is minimized. At the
periphery, the punch-through effect remains in its original magnitude.
However, as the bulk represents about 90 % of the total area, the total
leakage current is greatly reduced both under forward and reverse
blocking. Using this concept, the total device thickness can be slightly
lowered in order to achieve a lower VT. Thanks to the significantly
lowered leakage current, there is no loss of original breakdown voltage, if the thinning is carefully optimized.
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
COVER
CONTENT
STORY
Device performance
Fig.3 shows the temperature dependence of leakage current measured using half-wave sine voltage at the frequency of 6.25 Hz up
to the value of non-repetitive peak off-state blocking voltage in both
forward and reverse direction. The measured magnitudes stay well
within the original specification of the forward and leakage currents
IDRM and IRRM for 8.0 kV and T = 115°C even when measured up to
T = 125°C at the 8.5 kV level of the VRSM and VDSM rating. Well
acceptable spread between individual parts is indicated by the error
bars. All this is possible thanks to the massive reduction of the leakage current using the device concept shown in Figure2.
Figure 3: Leakage current vs. operation temperature from periodic
blocking voltage test using half sine wave of VR and VD ≥ 8.5 kV
(tp = 10 ms, f = 6.25 Hz).
Figure 4 shows the periodic blocking voltage test according to standards for thyristors subjected to periodic voltage stress. The half sine
with tp = 10 ms is applied with the amplitude equal to the so-called
working voltage VRWM. In this particular example, VRWM amounts
to two thirds of the repetitive peak reverse blocking voltage VRRM.
The amplitude of VRRM is then applied only for a shorter period of
about 250 µs. An analogous example could be shown for the forward
blocking region. In agreement with existing literature for thyristors in
the HVDC or industry, manufacturers typically apply VRWM (VDWM)
between 60 and 80% of VRRM (VDRM) [3].
However, the demanding industrial applications require the capability of VRWM = VRRM and VDWM = VDRM without compromising the
amplitude of the half sine wave. Figs.5a) and b) show that our PCTs
can satisfy this demand for the frequency of 50 Hz and for the lower
frequency of 6.25 Hz they can go even beyond this limit. Since the
leakage current at T = 125°C is still relatively high at such high voltages, we limit the maximal operation temperature to T = 115°C in
order to keep a sufficient margin, which guarantees the long term
reliability. We will see below, that from the viewpoint of maximizing the
output current of a converter, this restriction is well compensated by
the lowered ON-state voltage drop VT.
Figure 5a): Blocking voltage and current at different operation temperatures during periodic blocking voltage test using half sine wave
up to VRRM = 8.0 kV. tp = 10 ms, f = 50 Hz.
Figure 5b): Blocking voltage and current at different operation temperatures during periodic blocking voltage test using half sine wave
up to VRSM = 8.5 kV. tp = 10 ms, f = 6.25 Hz.
Figure 4: Blocking voltage and current at different operation temperatures during periodic blocking voltage test using half sine wave of
VRWM = 5.7 kV superimposed by surge voltage up to VRRM = 8 kV.
20
Bodo´s Power Systems®
Fig.6 shows the improvement of the ON-state voltage drop between
the current and new generation of industrial PCTs with 100 mm pole
piece at T = 115°C. The grey curve illustrates the range of typical
specifications of reverse recovery charge Qrr for industrial applications, which can be found between 3000 – 8000 µAs. In the whole
range of this Qrr, the VT of the new PCT is reduced by about 300 mV.
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
COVER
CONTENT
STORY
Figure 7 shows the temperature dependence of the Qrr – VT relation
for the new devices and two other competitors. It implies that our new
PCT belongs to the state-of-the-art. It also shows that the magnitude
of VT is independent of temperature at IT = 1.5 kA and higher, which
supports good thermal stability at continuous operation and high value
of surge current ITSM as well.
sine wave up to the full forward and reverse repetitive blocking voltage levels VDRM and VRRM up to 115°C.
Figure 6: Technology curve Qrr – VT for the existing and new 8.5 kV
PCT
Figure 7: Reverse recovery charge Qrr vs. ON-state voltage drop VT
of 8.5 kV PCTs with 100 mm pole piece for operation temperatures
115, 120 and 125°C. Qrr of all devices was tested using IT = 2 kA, di/
dt = -1.5 A/µs, VR = -200 V.
The surge current of the new device was measured at T = 125°C for
a half sine pulse length of 10 ms with subsequently applied half sine
forward voltage VD = 5.1 kV (60% of VRRM) with the delay of 1.5 ms
after the surge. The last pass value was achieved at ITSM ≈ 29 kA,
which corresponds to a typical capability expected from the PCTs with
100 mm pole piece. A similar value has been obtained from the triple
pulse surge current test without re-applied voltage. The good ITSM
ratings reflect the reduced ON-state losses of the new device, the effect of which is stronger than that of the reduced thermal capacity due
to thinner starting silicon wafer.
Conclusions
The new thyristor of 8.5 kV class with 100 mm pole piece has been
developed for industrial applications. This device shows a 300 mV
lower voltage drop compared to the previous generation. The significant lowering of leakage current provided by the new design concept
enabled us to permit the maximal voltage amplitude for 50 Hz half
Literature
[1] J. Vobecky, V. Botan. K. Stiegler, U. Meier, M. Bellini, „A Novel
Ultra-Low Loss Four Inch Thyristor for UHVDC”, Proceedings
of the 27th International Symposium on Power Semiconductor
Devices & ICs 2015, Hong Kong, pp. 413 – 416.
[2] J. Vobecky, V. Botan. K. Stiegler, M. Bellini, U. Meier, „New Low
Loss Thyristor for HVDC Transmission”, Proceedings PCIM Europe 2015, Nuremberg, pp. 885 – 890.
[3] M. Schenk, J. Przybilla, U. Kellner-Werdehausen, R. Barthelmess,
J. Dorn, G. Sachs, M. Uder, S. Völkel, “State of the Art of Bipolar
Semiconductors for Very High Power Applications”, Proceedings
PCIM Europe 2015, Nuremberg, pp. 930 – 937.
LinPak. The new
standard for fast
high-power
switching.
www.abb.com/semiconductors
The new 1,700 volt, 2 x 1,000 ampere
LinPak open standard module offers record
low stray inductance and highest current
density. This enables the full utilization of the
low switching loss 175 °C capable SPT++
IGBT technology. The modular design of the
LinPak allows easy paralleling and thus
covers a large range of inverter powers. A
3,300 volt version will follow soon.
www.abb.com/semiconductors
ABB Switzerland Ltd. / ABB s.r.o.
www.abb.com/semiconductors
abbsem@ch.abb.com
Tel.: +41 58 586 1419
www.bodospower.com
November 2015
Bodo´s Power Systems®
21
HIGH POWER
CONTENT
SWITCH
B-TRAN – Bi-Directional
Bi-Polar Junction Transistor
The Bi-directional Bi-polar Junction Transistor (B-TRAN) is a new topology for power
semiconductors, having a vertically symmetric, three layer, four terminal structure which
allows unique methods of operation, including in either direction with very low on-state
voltage drop at high current density.
By Bill Alexander, CTO, Ideal Power
2-D simulations show 650 V B-TRANs with a Vce of 0.2 V, a current
gain of 15, at a current density of 200 A/cm^2. The latter represents
a specific on-resistance of only 1 m-ohm-cm^2. Turn-off losses are
predicted to be about 1/10th of equivalent voltage IGBTs. To produce
this thin, double sided device in silicon without intra-wafer bonding,
conventional surface processing of standard thickness wafers is combined with temporarily bonded “handle” wafers.
c-base. The device may enter this mode from the Off mode simply
by reversing the voltage on the device. Vce is nominally 0.9 V even
at high current density.
Device Structure and Operating Modes:
The B-TRAN device structure is shown, along with its various operating modes, in Figure 1. The preferred polarity is NPN. Minority carrier lifetime is more than 1,000 uS (no lifetime killing is used), resulting
in a very low leakage current. Similar to an IGBT, and quite unlike a
conventional bi-polar transistor, it has thin surface diffusions to form
an emitter and a collector and a wide base in which the depletion region develops in the off state. Which side is the emitter and which the
collector is determined only by the applied voltage or current polarity.
Each side of the device has external contacts to the base region,
which allows bypassing of the emitter/base and/or collector/base
junctions under external control. This in turn allows the device to be
operated in various modes, some of which emulate existing devices
(Diode, MOSFET, or IGBT), and some of which are unique to the BTRAN (“transistor on”, “pre-turn-off”).
Figure 1: BTRAN operating modes
The base contact on the collector side is referred to as the “c-base”,
and the base contact on the emitter side is the “e-base”.
Modes
Off:
In this mode, the device is a reverse biased diode, with the c-base
open and the e-base shorted to the emitter. In current B-TRAN designs the c-base voltage is about 40 V below the collector voltage at
device breakdown, so the external MOSFETs which control the base
connection are rated to 40 V, which allows those MOSFETs to be very
small, low cost, and very low resistance. Shorting the e-base to the
emitter is required since otherwise the high gain of the device would
cause a low breakdown voltage. A passive e-base clamping circuit
may be used to perform this function in the absence of base control
power.
Diode-on:
In this mode, the c-base is shorted to the collector, the e-base is
open, and the device operates as a diode, or equivalently, as an
IGBT. However, since the B-TRAN has a high gain, most of the
current through the device flows through the collector rather than the
22
Bodo´s Power Systems®
Figure 2 –650 V B-TRAN, 200 A/cm^2, 25 C turn-off after 0.6 uS of
pre-turn-off
Transistor-on:
This mode is entered from Diode-on by disconnecting c-base from the
collector, and attaching it to a low power voltage source of nominally
0.65 V. This instantaneously drops Vce from about 0.9 V to as low
as 0.15 V (0.2 V nominally). Vce of less than 0.1 V can be achieved,
but the gain starts dropping off below a Vce of about 0.17 V (at 25C).
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
CONTENT
Pre-Turn-off:
This mode reduces the charge carrier density by two orders of magnitude to prepare the device for full turn-off, but takes less than 0.5 uS
to complete. E-base is first shorted to the emitter for nominally 400
nS, followed by attaching e-base to a voltage of about 5 V below the
emitter for another 100 nS and during full turn-off.
BTRAN Performance – From Simulations
Figure 2 shows turn-off simulation results, run in Silvaco Atlas, for a
650 V B-TRAN at 25 °C. Also from the simulations, this device has a
gain of 15 at 200 A/cm^2 at a Vce of 0.2 V. The per unit turn-off loss
of 0.62 mJ for this 1 cm^2 device at 200 A into 300 V is about 1/10th
that of a 650 V IGBT turning off under the same conditions (see below
Bosch MH6560C).
Figure 3: BTRAN Based EV Drive Topology
B-TRAN based Electric Vehicle (EV) Drive:
Figure 3 shows a basic 600 A, 300 V B-TRAN based DC to three
phase bi-directional converter as may be used on EV drives. This
may be compared with a conventional IGBT/Diode module from
Bosch (MH6560C). The conduction loss for the B-TRAN includes
base drive power. As shown in Table 1, the die area for the Bosch
module is estimated at 12 cm^2 based on the package size. The BTRAN is operated (in simulations) at 200 A/cm^2 current density and
a gain of 15. This analysis suggests that the B-TRAN requires just
1/4th the die area, and has about 1/5th the losses of the conventional
module.
renewable energy power generation in wind turbines, solar PV power
plants, and such plants combined with battery storage. Although
often confused with resonant link converters, the PPSA converter is
not a resonant link converter, as can be seen from the PPSA circuit
animation on the Ideal Power web site.
Switch – 650 V,
600 A
Die
Turn-off energy per Peak reverse recovery
Area – 600 A into 300 V,
current, 600 A, 300 V,
cm^2 inductive - mJ
di/dt 6.6kA/uS
Turn-on and reverse
recovery loss, 600A,
300V, di/t 6.6kA/uS
Total Switching losses at
5 kHz - W
Conduction loss,
600 A - W
Total
Loss, W
Bosch Module
12
16.8
260
10.2
135
1680
1815
B-TRAN
3
1.86
174
14.5
82
270
352
Table 1: Conventional vs B-TRAN for EV Drive – 25C
Manufacture
The B-TRAN manufacturing process is being developed on a conventional silicon process, with steps added for double sided photolithography, including temporary “handle” wafers to facilitate double
sided processing of thin wafers. Packaging to accommodate the
double-sided die is also being developed.
Figure 4: BTRAN Based PPSA 3 phase to 3 phase converter
Three phase to three phase converters via PPSA
The AC switch characteristic of the BTRAN is well suited for Ideal
Power’s Power Packet Switching Architecture (Figure 4). Full power
conversion efficiency with BTRANs is anticipated to be better than
99.4%, resulting in compact, air cooled, low cost converters for
www.bodospower.com
Summary
The BTRAN topology is a simple, yet radically different topology for
power semiconductors. As shown in simulations, it combines the
fast, low loss switching of a MOSFET, the high current density of
the IGBT, the low forward voltage drop of the BJT, and a unique bidirectionality. B-TRANs offer the potential to improve efficiency and
system economics of a wide variety of power converter applications
including Variable Frequency (VFD) motor drives, electrified vehicle
traction drives, PV inverters and wind converters.
November 2015
www.idealpower.com
Bodo´s Power Systems®
23
POWER
CONTENT
SUPPLY
Adding Flexibility to AC/DC
Power Supply Design that Uses
PFC+LLC Topology
Performance and cost are the main concerns of power supply
designers, but how about design flexibility?
By Zhihong Yu, AC/DC & Lighting Product Marketing Manager;
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.
For universal input AC/DC power supplies that fall in the range of
80-800W, the single stage boost PFC + half-bridge LLC is considered
to be a very popular topology. Traditionally, such power supplies
are designed with analog PFC + analog LLC as stand-alone or as
combo ICs. However, this two-stage approach can be quite difficult to
design, even for experienced power supply designers. Typically, these
designs may involve more than a hundred components in BOM, each
prototype iteration can take weeks to months to build and test, and
may take up to one year or more to place into production. Oftentimes, the end customer asks for new functions during various design
phases and even in production, causing the power supply vendor to
redesign and re-run the entire design cycle again. In a worse case
scenario, the new request cannot be delivered by the existing IC
solution. For example, we learned an end customer finds auto-restart
action is needed during short-circuit fault for their new generation
product, but the IC is only designed for latched protection at such
fault. It is possible for the power supply vendor to ask the IC vendor
to create a new IC with this feature, but more than likely, this will only
happen if the customer’s business is worth the time and effort, and it
may still take the IC vendor a few months to deliver samples with new
features! This would cause a series of business hanging on a thread.
To add more obstacles for designers, various performance requirements on power supplies are being enhanced every year. For
example, the European CoC Standard Tier2 will be enforced in
January 2016, but many of the current power supplies cannot meet
the no-load power-loss requirement yet (see Table 1). Especially for
Rated Output
Power
No load power consumption
>0.3W
Tier1
0.150W
Tier1
Tier2
No load power consumption
Rated Output
Power
and
<49W
>0.3W and <49W
≥49W and <250W
≥49W and <250W
Tier2
0.075W
0.150W
0.075W
0.250W
0.150W
0.250W
0.150W
Table
1: ofCode
Conduct
on Energy
Efficiency
ofSupplies
External
le 1: Code
of
on of
Energy
Efficiency
of
External
Power
Supplies
>>
<< Table
1:Conduct
Code
Conduct
on Energy
Efficiency
of External
Power
>>Power
Supplies
115V
Percentage of rated
load
Percentage of rated
80 Plus
load
80 Plus
80 Plus Bronze
80 Plus Silver
80 Plus Gold
80 Plus Bronze
80 Plus
80 Plus Platinum
Silver
80 Plus Titanium
115V
10%
10%
230V
20%
50%
20%
50%
80% 80%
82%
85%
80%
85% 80%
88%
87% 85%
90%
82%
90%
85%
90% 92%
100%
230V
10%
100%
80%
20%
10%
82%
80%
85%
87%
82%
92% 89%
88%
85%
94% 90%
90%
Bodo´s Power Systems®
le 2: 80 Plus Efficiency Standard for PC Power >>
100%
50%
81%
85%
81%
85%
89%
85%
88%
92%
81%
90%
94%
94% 91%
85%
89%
96% 91%
80 Plus Gold
87% 90% 87%
2: 80
Plus Efficiency
Standard
<< TableTable
2: 80 Plus
Efficiency
Standard for
PC Power for
>> PC Power
80 Plus Platinum
90% 92% 89%
80 Plus Titanium
90% 92% 94% 90%
90%
24
50%
20%
88%
85%
88%
92%
90%
94%
94%
96%
the PC power market, more end customers are demanding power
supply vendors to improve efficiency and power factors to meet Gold,
Platinum, and even Titanium efficiency standards (see Table 2).
In addition to energy efficiency, end customers also desire features
such as high power factor, fast transient response, multi-level protection functions, and many more. Some of these are difficult to achieve
through a strictly analog approach. In response, power supply
vendors have embraced a digital approach to improve performance,
achieve good resolution, and better control loop design, among other
benefits. However, in AC-DC field customers may always need to use
extra DSP or MCU to implement digital control, and often requires
experienced digital designers, which all add to development and
production cost. Digital control is oftentimes considered “high end and
expensive”.
To sum up, some of the challenges that the power supply designers
are facing are:
• Rapid changes in end customer requirements during various
design-production phases;
• High efficiency and high power factor from no-load to full load
• Expensive and difficult digital controls
To improve the situation, a solution would be to use a digital core with
just enough size, speed, and memory for the AC-DC controls and to
use a graphic user interface (GUI) to configure all major functions
(see Figure 2). The benefits would be:
• Flexible design, many major functions can be re-configured even
during production without affecting BOM at all.
• High efficiency and high power factor that no analog IC can deliver.
• Affordable digital controller at similar cost as analog controller.
This way, the power supply vendor does not need an extra programmer to enjoy the benefits of digital controls, and ultimately the vendor
saves more in BOM cost by eliminating certain external components
such as various RC to set time/frequency.
We designed a PFC/LLC Combo controller that utilizes such digital
100%
core, this IC’s performance meets certifications for high end PC power
markets, as those set by the Energy Using Product Directive (EuP)
Lot 6 and the Code of Conduct Version 5 Tier 2 specifications. This is
81%
achieved by offering <150mW input power at no load and <500mW at
85%
a 250mW load. For the efficiency to meet the 80 Plus Titanium specification, the power factor must also be higher than 0.95 at 20~100%
88%
load and VIN=230VIN (see Figure 3 and Figure 4).
91%
91%
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
POWER
CONTENT
SUPPLY
Besides high end PCs, this IC can also benefit other AC/DC applications to enhance system performance, such as televisions, gaming
devices, laptops, LED street lights, servers, battery chargers, and
more. There is also a standalone digital PFC coming up soon that
shares most benefits that can work with flyback ICs.
Key features and benefits of the PFC portion of the combo controller include:
• Patented CCM/ DCM digital average current control mode to
enhance overall efficiency and minimize system size
• Patented configurable input capacitor compensation to enhance
PF at light load
Figure 1: The Schematic for Digital PFC + LLC Combo
Dedicated solution
for traction?
Absolutely!
As a leading manufacturer of power electronics for traction, ABB understood your
need for highly customized solutions fitting the overall electrical and mechanical
design. We offer a complete and reliable sensor range up to 5 000 V and 40 000 A,
100 % compliant with traction standards.
You have a dedicated application, we have a dedicated range.
www.abb.com/sensors
ABB France
Current & Voltage Sensors
e-mail: sensors.sales@fr.abb.com
voltage-detector_184x124.indd 1
www.bodospower.com
November 2015
®
16/07/2014 10:40:36
Bodo´s Power Systems
25
POWER
CONTENT
SUPPLY
• Frequency jitter at CCM to improve EMI
• Patented smart X-cap discharger at AC removal to improve efficiency
Key features and benefits of the LLC portion of the combo controller include:
• 600V driver with integrated bootstrap diode and high dV/dt immunity
• Variable frequency resonant controller at 50% duty cycle
• Adaptive dead-time adjustment for best efficiency
• Automatic capacitive mode protection for safety
• Compatibility with the MP6922 synchronous rectifier IC for best
performance
• GUI configurable functions include:
• PFC switching frequency and frequency jitter
• Different PFC output voltages at different loads
• Patented power factor compensation at light load to improve PF
• Various configurable protection features such as OVP, OCP,
brown-in, and brownout
• Visual feedback loop adjustment and fast loop gain options
• Live monitor and report of system parameters and live debug
functions
Figure 4: Power Factor Improvement at Light Load with Patented PFC
Compensation
Figure 2: The Main GUI Interface to Program PFC
Vin=230v, Vout=12v, Pomax=240w Vin=230v, Vout=12v, Pomax=240w 95 Efficiency(%) Efficiency(%) 95 94 94 93 93 92 Test Result 92 91 Test 80+, RPesult la6um@230v 91 90 80+, Pla6um@230v 90 89 89 0 0 20 20 40 60 80 100 40 Load(%) 60 80 100 Load(%) Vin=115v, Vout=12v, Pomax=240w Vin=115v, Vout=12v, Pomax=240w 94 Figure 5: Digital Configurable PFC+LLC Evaluation Board
Efficiency(%) Efficiency(%) 94 93 93 92 92 91 Test Result 91 90 80+, RPesult la6um@115v Test 90 89 88 89 88 80+, Pla6um@115v 0 0 20 20 40 60 80 100 40 Load(%) 60 80 100 Tools and support to speed up design
EVB and various supporting documents are offered to help customers
become familiar with this digital platform. The EVB is rated at 85265VAC at input, and 12V/20A at output. The EVB is equipped with
an I2C to USB adaptor, allowing customers to optimize their designs
by changing all GUI settings from their computers and monitoring
live performance differences. For mass production, the configuration
can be done at the factory or we can help to program in house. The
datasheet, application note, layout guidelines, and GUI user guideline
documents will be available on the company website soon, and may
require login information. The part number is HR1200.
Load(%) Figure 3: 240W Evaluation
Board Efficiency Compared to 80 Plus
<<Platinum
Figure 3:Spec
240W Evaluation Board Efficiency Compared to 80 Plus Platinum Spec >>
<< Figure 3: 240W Evaluation Board Efficiency Compared to 80 Plus Platinum Spec >>
Key features and benefits of the combo controller as a system
include:
• High voltage current source for start-up or start-up from an external source (e.g.: a different IC)
• PIN <150mW at Po=0W, and PIN <500mW at Po=250mW
• GUI to configure system parameters with EEPROM to store
configurations
26
Bodo´s Power Systems®
November 2015
www.monolithicpower.com
www.bodospower.com
SEMiX ®3 Press-Fit
It’s Your Choice!
Integrated Shunts
Driver Bundle
Standard Industry Package
125kW up to 250kW
Available in 1200V/1700V from 300A to 600A
Standard Industry Package, optional with integrated shunt resistors
Integrated bundle saves R&D time, material and production cost
Plug-and-Play driver with isolated current/voltage/temperature signal
Pre-applied Phase Change Material with optimized thermal performance
Motor
Drives
Wind
Energy
Solar
Energy
www.semikron.com
Power
Quality
Power
Supplies
Urban Transport
Equipment
shop.semikron.com
Phase Change Material
POWER
CONTENT
SUPPLY
Powering IGBT Drivers with
Fly-Buck™
The insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is widely used as the main power-carrying
device in high-voltage and high-current systems. These types of systems include variablefrequency AC motor drives (VFD), industrial uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems
and solar inverters.
By Xiang Fang, Applications Engineer, Texas Instruments
In these applications, IGBTs are often configured in a bridge connection, and switch
on and off alternately to drive high-current
pulses into the motor coils or transformer
windings. The reliability and robustness of an
IGBT-based system is critical as it handles
power from kilowatt to megawatt level.
Compared to the whole system, the IGBT
gate driver only consumes “pea-sized”
power, or just a few watts. However, it is the
driver that helps to ensure that the IGBT
has reliable switching. The high-voltage and
current swing in the IGBT switching presents
great challenges to the driver design, and
usually requires a dedicated bias power
supply.
IGBT gate driver supply requirements
Multiple isolated positive and negative voltage rails are often required to power the
IGBT drivers in a system. The positive voltage is for turning on the IGBT. It should hold
a steady voltage level as it affects the turn-on
speed. The negative bias is required for a
reliable IGBT turn-off. During the switching
transient, the high dv/dt swing could induce
the gate voltage to jump high momentarily.
If the gate driver bias is not pulled at a low
enough negative potential, it could lead to
the IGBT falsely turning on and increase the
risk of high-current shoot-through. Isolation
is another requirement for the driver bias
supply. In a multi-phase IGBT system, the
high-side driver needs an isolated bias for
each phase. Sometimes the preference is to
have isolation for low-side IGBTs as well to
avoid any ground noise interference. Figure
1 shows the gate drivers for two IGBTs in a
half-bridge configuration, which needs two
pair of bipolar voltage rails.
Push-pull, flyback and forward converters
have been the common choices of isolated
power supply topologies for IGBT driver bias.
The bias outputs are obtained through an
28
Bodo´s Power Systems®
Figure 2: Fly-Buck converter topology
Figure 1: Gate drivers with bipolar bias for
two IGBTs
open-loop switching or auxiliary transformer
winding feedback control. The open-loop
operation gives poor line and load regulation. It relies on a stable input DC source and
post-stage low dropout (LDO) regulators to
produce stable bias rails.
On the other hand, the auxiliary winding
feedback method adds more required windings and pins to the transformer. The cross
regulation between outputs is not optimal.
However, the Fly-Buck™ converter can
readily take on the task. The topology uses a
transformer in a buck converter instead of an
inductor to generate isolated outputs (Figure
2). It controls the secondary side outputs by
regulating the primary side output similar to
a normal buck. The Fly-Buck uses the primary output to clamp the secondary outputs
through coupled windings. This primary-side
regulation makes it easy to obtain well-controlled isolated voltages without needing an
auxiliary winding or optocoupler feedback. In
general, the topology has balanced crossregulation performance, and the switching
operation is less noisy.
November 2015
Fly-Buck driver bias considerations
When using a Fly-Buck to power IGBT drivers, the optimal configuration of the supply
for the system should be evaluated. Depending on the application case, there are several
ways to configure the outputs as one FlyBuck can provide the bipolar voltages for one
or multiple IGBT drivers. For a single IGBT,
the driver bias needs one pair of positive and
negative outputs. For two IGBTs in a half
bridge, the bias supply should have four outputs. For a typical three-phase AC motor, the
six IGBTs require at least eight bias outputs
for the gate drivers, as the three bottom side
IGBTs share the common ground and can
use the same bias rails for the drivers.
From a cost perspective, a centralized
power supply that covers the whole system’s
driver bias needs is more beneficial than the
discrete solution. However, having separate
driver supplies gives improved performance
in terms of stable regulation and higher
power capability. Also, it may be impractical
to have a centralized solution as the safety
spacing between isolated outputs from
the insulation requirement may make the
transformer design unfeasible to fit all the
windings in one package. To obtain the positive and negative outputs, besides using two
transformer windings, these outputs can also
come from a single winding with the voltage-
www.bodospower.com
Small and Efficient
TPS82085: Industry’s smallest 6-VIN / 3-A module
This MicroSiP™ power module is less than 1.3-mm thick. With an integrated
inductor, this module also combines high performance and ease-of-use in the
smallest total solution size of 35 mm2.
MicroSiPTM provides:
• DCS-Control™ technology
• Low quiescent current: only 17µA
• Up to 95% efficiency
•
Best-in-class thermal performance
1.3 mm
2.8 mm
3.0 mm
www.ti.com/microsip
The platform bar, MicroSiP and DCS-Control are trademarks of Texas Instruments. © 2015 Texas Instruments Incorporated
POWER
CONTENT
SUPPLY
split circuit (Figure 3). The two-winding
solution has better regulation and efficiency
overall, but the voltage-split method halves
the number of secondary windings, making
it more suitable for a multiple-driver Fly-Buck
supply.
output voltage. Since the Fly-Buck primary
side is a buck topology, the primary output
cannot be higher than the topology that uses
the off time to transfer energy. A duty cycle
too high leads to high secondary peak current and poor regulation.
voltage ratio. A more realistic estimate is to
include the rectifier diode forward voltage
and the winding resistance voltage drop. The
average current in the primary winding can
be calculated as the sum of the secondary
output current reflected to the primary:
Ipri = K ∑i Ni Isec(i) (2)
where Ni is the secondary-to-primary turns
ratio for the ith winding, and the coefficient K
is equal to 1 for normal Fly-Buck, and 1/(1-D)
for inverting buck configuration.
Figure 3: Generating the bipolar bias using (a) dual windings; and (b) one winding and a voltage split circuit.
The gate voltage bias levels vary, based on
the IGBT selection and system operating
conditions. Typically, the positive voltage is
set at 15V to 18V range, whilst the negative
voltage level is more flexible: it can be symmetrical to the positive rail, or have a lesser
voltage of –5V to –10V. The negative rail is
often deemed less critical than the positive
one, and allows a higher variation tolerance.
In an actual design case, the bias levels
may need to be optimized according to the
system test and performance. A Fly-Buck
converter has the flexibility to accommodate changes by adjusting the primary buck
output voltage after the transformer’s turns
ratio is fixed.
The input voltage for the driver bias is usually taken from the system’s auxiliary power
rail at 24V or 12V. For a 12V-based input
voltage, it is difficult to find an ideal primary
voltage point. If following the 50 percent
duty cycle rule, the primary voltage should
be set at a low level so that the transformer
windings need a high step-up ratio to generate the isolated bias, which can damage the
regulation.
To improve the low input performance of the
Fly-Buck, the primary side can be set as an
inverting buck topology. The inverting buck
(or buck boost) generates a negative output,
and the buck converter IC uses the negative
The current level is higher when using the
inverting buck. The current ripple should be
less than 60 percent of the average, and the
minimum desired inductance of the transformer primary side can be calculated. The
peak current needs to be checked so that it
does not exceed the current limit of the FlyBuck converter integrated circuit (IC).
To demonstrate the design, I created two
reference board examples. One is an eightoutput Fly-Buck bias for six IGBT drivers in a
three-phase motor (Figure 4), and the other
is a two-output Fly-Buck for a single driver
(Figure 5). In both design examples I used
the Texas Instruments’ LM5160 buck converter for the Fly-Buck regulator. This device
is a constant on-time (COT) synchronous
buck converter. It can operate in a wide input
range of 4.5V to 65V, and has 1.5A current
capability with integrated FETs and can be
used for Fly-Buck applications.
The power requirement to drive an IGBT
is also an important specification. It can be
estimated by:
Pg=∆Vg × Qg × Fsw
(1)
where ΔVg is the positive to negative gate
voltage swing, Qg is the total IGBT gate
charge at the given bias level, and Fsw is the
IGBT switching frequency.
The gate driving power, plus the driver IC
and circuit’s own consumed power, is the
total required power for the driver bias supply. This is usually a few watts, and the bias
supply current is less than 1A. However, the
gate driver current can have a much higher
spike of 5A-10A or even above at the switching instants. The bias supply needs to have
sufficient output capacitance to minimize the
output ripple.
Design and examples
After determining the bias power configuration, the Fly-Buck design process is similar
for both multiple-driver and single-driver
solutions. The first step is to set the primary
30
Bodo´s Power Systems®
Figure 4: Eight-output Fly-Buck supply powering six IGBT drivers in a three-phase motor
voltage as its ground reference. It lowers the
duty cycle and effectively extends the FlyBuck’s operation range in low-input voltage
conditions.
The transformer turns ratio can be determined after setting the primary output. The
secondary-to-primary winding turns ratio is
roughly equal to the secondary-to-primary
November 2015
The eight-output reference design is for the
24V-based input voltage, and the input is
allowed to vary from 20V to 30V. The power
supply provides +15V and –8V bias rails
with 100 mA current capability for each IGBT
driver. The reference board is shown in Figure 6 uses one transformer with four secondary windings, where the +15V and –8V rails
are produced by a voltage-split circuit. The
www.bodospower.com
CONTENT
primary voltage is set at 10.5V, and the turns
ratio is set at 2.3:1 to get a total 23V from
one secondary winding.
outputs, and has better efficiency with 87
percent peak. This reference board also features a module-like design, with a compact
size of 28x18-mm and
a DIP 22-pin package
footprint (Figure 7).
The tradeoff between
the two designs is
clear. The centralized design with one
Figure 5: Two-output Fly-Buck power supply powering a single IGBT
converter IC and
driver
one transformer is
Three pairs of the isolated +15V, –8V outputs
more cost-effective for a three-phase motor
with 100 mA current is for the three top
system, but the single-driver design doubles
IGBTs. The other bipolar outputs have 300
the bias power capability and has better
mA output current for the three bottom IGBT
performance. They suit different applications
drivers combined. So the average current on
depending on the system needs.
the primary side is at about 1.4A, which is
enough margin from the 2.1A peak current
Summary
limit of the LM5160 Fly-Buck IC. The +15V
The Fly-Buck converter brings a costoutput with the Zener clamp has stable volteffective and simple-to-use power solution to
age, within five percent regulation over line
power the IGBT driver in the AC motor drives
or load variation. Note that the –8V outputs
and inverters. The Fly-Buck features the
can endure all variations from the singleprimary side regulation. It also can provide
winding output, which can hold below –6.5V
good cross-regulation, wide-input operation,
at full load. The peak power efficiency is
and low-noise interference, so it can meet
about 82 percent. The design was validated
the stringent requirements posted in these
with 1200V IGBTs and 6A gate driver in a
application spaces. For different IGBT-based
three-phase system.
systems, the converter can be configured to
power one or more IGBT drivers giving your
design greater flexibility.
Figure 6: Reference board of the eight-output
Fly-Buck bias design
Figure 7: Reference board of the two-output
Fly-Buck bias design
The two-output design is for the 12V-based
system. It has an input range of 8V-20V, and
generates +15V and –9V outputs at 200
mA max current. It uses the inverting buck
setting in order to operate at the low-input
voltage level, and has separate windings for
the bipolar outputs. The primary output is
set at –15.3V, and the turns ratio is 1:0.6:1.
It achieves five percent regulation for both
www.bodospower.com
References
1.Fang, X.; Liu, W.; Chadaga, A., “Fly-Buck
adds well-regulated isolated outputs to a
buck without optocouplers,” EDN,06 Apr.
2014
2.http://edn.com/design/power-management/4429791/
Product-How-to--Fly-Buck-addswell-regulated-isolated-outputs-to-a-buckwithout-optocouplers3.Fang, X.; Meng, Y., “Isolated Bias Power
Supply for IGBT Gate Drives Using the
Fly-Buck Converter,” Applied Power
Electronics Conference and Exposition
(APEC), 2015 IEEE, pp.2373,2379, 15-19
March 2015
4.LM5160 datasheet: www.ti.com/product/
lm5160
5.TI Reference Design: Wide-Input Isolated
IGBT Gate-Drive Fly-Buck Power Supply
for Three-Phase Inverters: http://www.
ti.com/tool/TIDA-00199
6.TI Reference Design: Dual Isolated Outputs Fly-Buck Power Module Design for
Single IGBT Driver Bias: http://www.ti.com/
tool/PMP10654
Cost Efficient
High Isolation
1W DC/DC Converters
Designed for
Industrial, HV Monitoring and
Test/Measurement Applications
High 6.4kVDC Isolation Voltage
Wide Operating Temperature Range
from -40°C to +90°C (no derating)
Built-in Class A EMC Filter
Single or Dual Outputs
Industry Standard Pinout
80% Efficiency
Space Saving SIP7 Case
3 Year Warranty
www.ti.com
November 2015
®
WE POWER
PRODUCTS
Bodo´s
PowerYOUR
Systems
31
www.recom-power.com
IGBT
CONTENT
DRIVER
Driving and Protecting up to
150A 1200V- Class IGBTs
A Robust Half Bridge High Voltage Driver IC with High-Side fault
protection.
1200V class IGBTs used in small (industrial) motor control applications are more and
more driven by 1200V High Voltage integrated Circuits (HVICs). This approach provides
defined low propagation times of signal transfer from control input to driver output and
avoids the optocoupler typical aging effects of this essential part of the power stage.
By Marco Honsberg, Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V., Germany;
Yo Habu Power Device Works, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Japan,
The utilization of HVIC’s is nowadays rather common for 1200V
IGBTs having rated Collector currents of usually not more than 50A to
75A especially in Intelligent Power Modules (IPMs) while above that
current level still optocoupler based driver stages are put in place.
This article presents a novel 1200V High Voltage Integrated Circuit
the M81748FP for half bridge driver applications with complete Highand Low-side fault protection circuitry that is designed to drive IGBT
power modules of up to 150A (200A) of rated current. Apparently a
simple increase of the output driver stage is not enough to ensure a
safe operation especially at a short circuit situation. The introduced
HVIC (M81748FP) along with its evaluation platform for sixpack (6in1)
IGBT modules is used to prove the robustness at switching operation
even beyond the IGBT’s specified maximum limits without latch-up.
Introduction
Previous generations of highly dV/dt and Vs undershoot immune
1200V HVICs have facilitated a Low-side fault protection through
a shunt resistor connected to the Emitter side: The first version
M81019FP developed in 2005 and a further improved version
M81738FP was released in 2012(1).
A forward level shifting function transmitting signals from Low-side
to High-side, which is indispensable for the high side gate drive has
been implemented utilizing a divided RESURF structure that will be
explained later. The structure on the chip is based on a level shifter
composed of a high voltage Nch-MOS and a dedicated filter on the
receiving high voltage floating part of the HVIC. For the required information flow from this HV floating island back to the control interface
potential the new function of transferring logic signals from the Highside floating island down to N (GND) potential is realized by a reverse
level shifter structure composed of a high voltage Pch-MOS(2) along
with a corresponding reception circuitry on N (GND) potential.
Forward and reverse level shifting HVIC
Figure1 shows a block diagram of the HVIC. The “HIN” input signal is
transferred to the output “HO” by a level shifter and the HDESAT fault
signal is transferred to the “FO” by the previously introduced reverse
level shifter.
The novel 1200V HVIC (M81748FP) has been developed with both,
a Low-side and a High-side fault protection based on a desaturation
detection circuitry for IGBTs at a short circuit (SC) condition. The absence of shunt resistors on the High-side part of a 2in1 or 6in1 IGBT
module and the fact that the applicable current range of modules shall
be increased to a range where shunt resistors become inefficient has
stipulated a change of the SC detection method. Integrating a desaturation detection circuitry for Low-side and High-side will facilitate to
even SC protect 6in1 (6-pack) modules leg by leg. Hence, the added
High-side fault protection function provides high reliability operation
and an efficient protection even at earth fault conditions.
The core technology realizing this feature of High-side SC protection
on the HVIC is the implementation of an electrically floating High-side
island having a high voltage level-shifting structure transmitting a
signal between high voltage region (High-side) and the low voltage
region (Low-side).
32
Bodo´s Power Systems®
Figure 1: M81748FP block diagram
The new HVIC detects at its terminals “HDESAT” and at the terminal
“LDESAT” for the L-side respectively a desaturation of the connected
IGBT. Those terminals are linked to the internal fault logic and control
the output terminals HO / LO as well as they act on the Fault Output
(FO).
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
IGBT
CONTENT
DRIVER
Fig.2 shows an application circuit of M81748FP for IGBTs.
the blanking capacitor since the Collector – Emitter path is blocked
by the implemented diode. Once the voltage at the DESAT terminal
exceeds the internal threshold voltage of the HVIC, a desaturation
situation is detected which immediately initiates a soft shut down procedure inside the M81748FP. Thus, the output driver stages for low
side “LO” and High-side “HO” correspondingly are shut down softly.
The indication of this abnormal desaturated situation is realized by the
fault output terminal “FO” becoming low and providing the information
to the superimposed control system.
Figure 2: M81748FP application circuit
In this proposed application circuit the high voltage diodes with low reverse-recovery charge and corresponding low reverse recovery time
are connected between the “DESAT” terminals (Anode of the diode)
and the IGBT’s collector terminals. Additional spike filtering blanking
capacitors are connected between the “DESAT” terminals and VS or
GND terminals respectively to provide noise immunity. In detail the
circuit operates as follows: When the High-side-IGBT is turned on,
the current provided from the corresponding DESAT terminal flows
through the Collector – Emitter path to the reference potential. Hence,
the voltage level at the DESAT input can be considered low. However
at a short circuit situation the IGBT is considered desaturated and,
hence, the current originating from the “DESAT” terminal flows into to
Figure 3: Typical connection diagram of a half bridge application
circuit
SILICON CARBIDE
SEMICONDUCTORS
FLEXIBLE
FOUNDRY.
Raytheon UK’s Semiconductor business provides
a flexible approach to SiC power semiconductor
process development and fabrication. Raytheon
has significant experience in the development,
manufacture and process transfer of a range of
power devices enabling a cost-effective route
to market and return on investment.
Learn more from our SiC semiconductor experts on how
Raytheon can help manufacture your power semiconductors.
Raytheon.co.uk/capabilities/innovations/
Connect with us:
© 2015 Raytheon Company. All rights reserved. “Customer Success Is Our Mission” is a registered trademark of Raytheon Company.
www.bodospower.com
November 2015
Bodo´s Power Systems®
33
IGBT
CONTENT
DRIVER
Short circuit and undershoot voltage generation
A typical schematic diagram of a half bridge application circuit with
M81748FP HVIC Evaluation board
Mitsubishi Electric provides an evaluation board to test the performance and robustness of this M81748FP in conjunction with 6in1
IGBT modules. The developed board carries 3 pieces of the described
M81748FP 1200V HVICs along with the required peripheral circuitry
to drive 100A…150A class 1200V 6in1 IGBT modules (CM100TX24S1 or CM150TX-24S1). Fig.8 shows the evaluation board layout.
Conclusion
A 1200V/2A HVIC (M81748FP) with high-side and low-side short circuit (SC) protection circuit has been introduced. The newly integrated
reverse level shifter circuit provides an upgrade of the functionality
of HVICs. The robustness of the HVIC technology has been proven
even beyond the specification limits of the utilized IGBT modules.
Figure 4: Waveforms of IGBT module during turn-off
(conditions: CM100TX-24S1, Ta=25°C, VS=900V, Rg=10ohm,
VGE=15V)
indicated parasitic elements reveals that during switching operation,
e.g. when the P-side transistor Q1 is turning-off, the inductive load
causes the current (IFW) to keep on flowing. Therefore, because the
current (IFW) flows through the parasitic inductance L3-L4 and the
FWDi of Q2, a transient Vs minus undershoot peak will occur at the
Vs node. This dynamic negative “undershoot” peak voltage may lead
to two problems: At insufficient robustness of the HVIC design the
HVIC could be worst case destroyed or at least - being not immediately destructive to the HVIC - a false or no signal could be transferred to the HO output.
The M81748FP indeed provides a high immunity to such VS undershoot voltage. A test has been carried out with a sixpack “6in1” 100A
/1200V class IGBT module “CM100TX-24S1” with 0 Ohms of gate
resistor while the voltage at terminal “VS” was recorded. Although the
voltage during this transiently reached a level of as low as -129V, no
destruction or malfunction of this tested M81748FP device could be
observed.
References
1.M.Yamamoto et al.: “High reliability 1200V High Voltage Integrated
Circuit (1200V HVIC) for half bridge applications“, Proc. of PCIM,
2012, pp.466-472.
2.M.Yoshino et al.: “A novel high voltage Pch-MOS with a new drain
drift structure for 1200V HVICs“, Proc. ISPSD, 2013, pp.77-80.
3.M. Honsberg et al.: ”A Novel Family of 1200V Transfer Mold
Converter - Inverter - Brake (CIB) Modules Driven by a New 1200V
High Voltage Integrated Circuit (1200V HVIC)”, Proc. of PCIM 2005,
pp. 461-468
4.K.Shimizu and T.Terashima, ”The 2nd Generation divided RESURF
structure for High Voltage ICs”, Proc. ISPSD, 2008,pp.311-314.
5.T.Terashima, K.Shimizu and S.Hine: “A new Level-shifting Technique by divided RESURF structure“, Proc. ISPSD, 1997, pp.57-60.
www.mitsubishichips.eu
E-mail: Marco.Honsberg@meg.mee.com
E-mail: Habu.Yo@ab.MitsubishiElectric.co.jp
Figure 5a and 8b: Evaluation board layout for M81748FP
34
Bodo´s Power Systems®
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
✓
With you from start to finish.
We understand that electronic product design is a journey with
many challenges. As a leading manufacturer of power supplies,
we are with you from start to finish, collaborating to ensure that
your next project is a success. Let us be your power expert.
Ac-Dc Power Supplies | Dc-Dc Converters
www.cui.com/powerexpert
CONTENT
LIGHTING
Controlling a Dimmable Triac
How to use a small microcontroller to control
the LED driver for a dimmable triac
A microcontroller can be used to control an LED driver that is compatible with triac dimmers and only requires a small firmware overhead, giving users the capacity to add algorithms to improve the design, bring intelligence to the system or measure any of the parameters. This method is attractive because of its inherent power factor correction (PFC).
By Kristine Angelica Sumague, Application Engineer and
Mark Pallones, Team Lead, Microchip Technology Inc
The design uses a high power factor flyback converter operating
in critical conduction mode (CCM), which is the boundary between
continuous and discontinuous inductor current mode. Basically, the
topology is a conventional flyback except there is no bulk capacitor
after the full-bridge rectifier. This means the rectified sinusoid can be
used as the input of the converter rather than a fixed DC voltage.
Advantages
The incandescent lamp works well with a triac dimmer because it is
purely resistive. Therefore, to design an LED driver compatible with a
triac dimmer, the input characteristics of the LED driver should also be
resistive. PFC can make the LED driver look like a pure resistor from
the AC input side by making the input line current in-phase with the
input line voltage.
Aside from the high PF, there are other advantages this topology can
provide such as isolation between the AC mains and the converter
output, which is desirable for safety requirements. It also reduces
the need for heat sinks. CCM ensures low switching losses of the
MOSFET. The high PF reduces dissipation in the bridge rectifier and
the low part count helps reduce cost and form factor. A small size
,cheaper film capacitor replaces the bulky and costly high-voltage
electrolytic capacitor after the full-bridge rectifier.
How it works
Figure 1 shows the simplified circuit of the LED driver with the PIC
microcontroller controlling the circuit at the primary side, using the onchip peripherals mentioned.
This method uses Microchip’s PIC12HV752 eight-pin microcontroller
with on-chip output waveform generator (COG) and the hardware
limit timer (HLT) peripherals that are suitable for power conversion
applications. The main purpose of the COG in this circuit is to convert
two separate input events into a single PWM output. The HLT acts
as a timed hardware limit to be used with asynchronous analogue
feedback applications. The internal reset source synchronises the
HLT with the analogue application.
Other peripherals include IO ports, a fixed voltage reference (FVR),
comparators, a digital-to-analogue converter (DAC), timers, a capturecompare PWM (CCP) and an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC).
This combination will produce a dimmable triac with active 0.95 PFC,
90 to 240V AC input and 20V DC, 325mA maximum output.
The comparators interface analogue circuits to a digital circuit by
comparing two analogue voltages and providing a digital indication of
their relative magnitude. The 5bit DAC module translates the rectified
input voltage. The ADC converts the input signal into a 10bit binary
representation.
36
Bodo´s Power Systems®
Figure 1: Simplified schematic of dimmable triac LED driver
The COG peripheral provides a PWM signal that drives the input
of the MCP1416 MOSFET driver to turn on and off the MOSFET
(Q1). The rising edge of the PWM is controlled by the HLT or the C1
comparator, while the falling edge is controlled by the C2 comparator.
The input of C1 is derived from the voltage of the auxiliary winding
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
Stay cool,
be MAPI
MAPI!!
#coolMAPI
The WE-MAPI is the world’s smallest metal alloy power inductor. It’s efficiency is unmatched.

highest current ratings
Available from stock. Samples free of charge. For further information please visit:

lowest AC losses in class
www.we-online.com/WE-MAPI

incredibly low DCR

excellent temperature stability
Design your DC/DC converter in REDEXPERT, the world’s most precise

innovative design
software tool to calculate AC losses.

lowest EMI radiation
The full
WE-MAPI range:
1.6 x 1.0
2.0 x 1.0
2.5 x 0.6
2.5 x 0.8
2.5 x 1.0
2.5 x 1.2
3.0 x 1.0
3.0 x 1.2
3.0 x 1.5
3.0 x 2.0
4.0 x 2.0
CONTENT
LIGHTING
of transformer T1, which is compared with VSS to detect the zero
crossing of the auxiliary winding voltage (Vaux). The input of C2 is the
voltage across the Rsense resistor, which is compared with the DAC
output. The DAC output depends on its Vref, which is connected to
the input wave shape signal, derived from the rectified input signal
through a simple voltage divider.
The main advantage of primary side control is implementing PFC,
achieved through the feed forward method and peak current mode
control.
Start up
When applying the AC input voltage, the base voltage of transistor Q4
in the bootstrap circuit in Figure 2 is increasing. When there is enough
base voltage, Q4 turns on and diode D14 is forward biased.
Steady state
When Q1 is on, the secondary diode D2 is off and the voltage across
the T1 primary magnetising inductance (VLP) is equal to Vin(f), which
is the rectified input voltage and is equal to the peak input voltage
(Vpk) multiplied by the rectified input line phase angle. Also when Q1
is on, the primary inductance current (ILP) is increasing linearly. This
current will flow through the Rsense resistor, the voltage drop across
which is used as a sense voltage (Vsense) to translate ILP.
Due to the turn-on event of Q1, ILP is usually affected by a noise that
is eventually reflected to Vsense, as shown in Figure 4. To prevent
this switching noise from causing a false trigger, the COG peripheral
uses the comparator blanking timers to count off a few cycles.
Figure 4: Switching noise on Vsense
Figure 2: Bootstrap circuit
The voltage across the base of Q4 is held up to 10V by the D13
Zener diode. When Q4 turns on, the collector current flows through
RC and D14 to increase the VDD of the PIC microcontroller. When
VDD is high enough (usually the minimum VDD of the microcontroller)
HLT, COG, DAC, ADC and comparators are initialised, after which the
HLT emits a pulse at 58kHz to turn on Q1 initially. This will energise
the primary inductance of T1 and transfer the magnetising current to
produce Vaux when Q1 turns off.
Once the rectified Vaux has reached 10V, the forward voltage of D14
drops below 0.7V. This allows D14 not to conduct and Q4 to turn off.
Once Q4 is off, VDD is supplied by Vaux. It is important that Q4 is
always off during normal circuit operation to avoid power dissipation
on Q4. Q4 remains off as long as there is enough Vaux. The operation of the bootstrap circuit is depicted through the waveform shown
in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Bootstrap waveform
38
Bodo´s Power Systems®
Vsense is compared with the DAC voltage (VDAC) – which is also
the peak current set point – by the C2 comparator. VDAC is derived
from the rectified input voltage through a voltage divider so it follows
the rectified input and forces the peak current of primary inductance
(ILpk) to be synchronised and proportional to the rectified input. This
is how the circuit achieves the PFC function. When Vsense reaches
VDAC, Q1 turns off and HLT is reset.
As mentioned, the design is working in CCM. To ensure this conduction mode operation, Q1 should turn on again when ILS (secondary
inductance current) reaches zero. This is made possible through zero
current detection using C1, which detects ILS zero crossing based on
Vaux. Figure 5 shows a timing diagram to visualise the control operation from start-up to steady state.
Figure 5: LED driver control timing diagram
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
CONTENT
15 x
Additional circuits
Figure 1 shows some circuit blocks that are included in the design to
improve the reliability. The inrush current circuit is an active circuit that
protects the primary side components by suppressing the large input
current spikes. The bleeder circuit draws additional current to maintain the triac holding current at low input line voltage. Not maintaining
the required holding current of the triac will cause it to misfire. The
circuit is shown in Figure 6.
more reliable than
previously seen
Figure 6: Switching of bleeder circuit
The snubber circuit is used to protect Q1 from a large voltage spike
caused by the leakage inductance of T1. When Q1 turns off, the energy from the leakage inductance is reflected back to primary winding.
The snubber circuit dissipates this energy to reduce the voltage spike.
Firmware
The firmware’s overhead is small and mainly consists of initialising the
core independent peripherals. The pins on the PIC device are configured according to their function. After the pins have been configured,
the peripherals are setup and turned on. During the initialisation, the
internal connections and functions of the peripherals are established.
More power, less size,
longer lasting! Add value
with power of customisation
At Danfoss Silicon Power we combine cutting
edge technologies with the power of customisation to create unique solutions that solve your
business challenges. In a dynamic market that
demands increasingly compact, more powerful and longer lasting power modules – all while
minimising cost. Customisation is the way to stay
ahead of the competition.
The ADC detects the status of the triac dimmer. If the rectified input
voltage sampled by the ADC exceeds the triac minimum holding current threshold voltage, the bleeder circuit turns off, otherwise, it will
turn on. Before the bleeder circuit turns on, a certain delay is required
to evaluate the state of triac dimmer.
Conclusion
For a smooth dimming and a quiet operation, a challenge is to avoid
unwanted triac switching caused by the ringing that occurs when the
triac is initially fired. The input filter of this LED driver design requires
an optimisation to avoid this problem and ensure that the line waveform will not be altered.
Call us and discover how we
can spice up your next project.
Danfoss Silicon Power GmbH
Husumer Strasse 251, 24941 Flensburg, Germany
Tel. +49 461 4301-40, dsp-sales@danfoss.com
That said, the circuit presented here shows how a PIC microcontroller can control an LED driver that is compatible with traditional triac
dimmers.
www.siliconpower.danfoss.com
www.bodospower.com
DKSP.PA.400.A2.02
www.microchip.com
November 2015
Bodo´s Power Systems®
39
ComPack Family... Compact Package with highest power density
650-700A /1600-2200V
Phase-legs
Features
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Optimized creepage & clearance distances
Clip-soldered die technology
Less weight (500 g)
Optimized heatsink & DCB construction
93 mm x 65 mm x 50 mm (L x W x H)
M10 screw connections
Products available up to 2200 V
Applications
• Input rectification
• AC-Control
• Motor control, softstarter
TYPE
MCMA 700 P 1600CA
MCMA 700 P 1600NCA
MCMA 700 PD 1600CB
MDMA 700 P 1600CC
MCNA 650 PD 2200CB
MCNA 650 P 2200CA
MDNA 700 P 2200CC
For more information please
email marcom@ixys.de
or call Petra Gerson: +49 6206 503249
ITAVM
VRRM
700
700
700
700
650
650
700
1600
1600
1600
1600
2200
2200
2200
Capacitors for Power Electronics
IGBT Snubbers
RF Mica Capacitors
DC Link Capacitors
-High Current, High Voltage Film
-High Capacitance Aluminum Electrolytic
AC Output Harmonic Filter Capacitors
www.cde.com
International Exhibition and Conference
for Power Electronics, Intelligent Motion,
Renewable Energy and Energy Management
Nuremberg, 10 – 12 May 2016
Connecting Global Power
More information at +49 711 61946-0
pcim@mesago.com or pcim-europe.com
XFlux®
High saturation
for high current
inductors
Headquarters
Web: www.mag-inc.com
Phone: +1 412 696 1333
Email: magnetics@spang.com
Asia
Web: www.mag-inc.com.cn
Phone: +852 3102 9337
Email: asiasales@spang.com
TECHNOLOGY
CONTENT
BiAgX®: High-Temperature
Lead-Free (Pb-free) Solder Paste
The world is going lead-free (Pb-free). Over the last 20 years, the use of tin-lead eutectic
solders for SMT and similar electronics assembly has been drastically reduced, driven by
legislation such as RoHS and RoHS2.
By Andy C. Mackie, PhD, MSc, Senior Product Manager, Indium Corporation;
HongWen Zhang, PhD, Research Metallurgist, Indium Corporation
High-temperature lead-based solders, especially those with lead (Pb)
content >85%w/w, have survived the lead-free movement due to a
lack of an alternative in many applications. This is especially true
where the solder joints must survive several low-temperature reflow
cycles. For power semiconductor and similar devices, this means
discretes or small form-factor modular devices (DrMOS and similar)
that are surface-mounted.
Since its formation in 2010, the DA5 consortium (composed of
Infineon Technologies, Bosch, STMicroelectronics, NXP Semiconductors and Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.) has evaluated a variety
of different alternative technologies and, through the Öko-Institut,
concluded that, “based on the information submitted, the use of lead
in high-melting point solders in Exemption 8(e) is still unavoidable…
The consultants recommend reviewing the exemption by 2021 at the
latest.” A summary of the status, as of end of 2014, and appropriate
links can be found in reference [1].
HTPbF Solders
So what is the problem with solders? Figure 1 shows some of the
wide variety of higher melting solder alloys that are available on the
market.
• Gold (Au)-based alloys are expensive and, due to both their cost
and their high tensile strength, are limited to small die only
• Bismuth (Bi)-silver [2] does not form an intermetallic with standard
metallizations, and, therefore, does not solder well
Alternative Joining Technologies
Several alternative technologies are emerging as Pb-free replacements, the most promising being nanosilver sintering materials.
Sintered silver and similar technologies, such as transient liquid
phase materials, may well meet the die-attach needs of high-current
density and higher Tj devices into the future [3]. They also necessitate
significantly increased materials costs, new capital equipment costs,
increased sensitivity to the condition of underlying metal surfaces
(such as oxide and roughness), and lower production rates (UPH)
over conventional solder-based processes [4]. This makes these
materials unsuited for use in smaller, cost-sensitive discrete devices
and power modules.
For this reason, a “drop-in” HTPbF solder-based solution is an ideal
material. Of all the form factors of die-attach solder – solder paste,
fluxless wire and engineered solders (solder preforms) – solder paste
has the most flexibility as it can be used on die from under 1x1 mm
(where specific alloy types eliminate skewing and tilt) to 10x10 mm or
higher, with vacuum reflow.
BiAgX® Solder Paste
Bismuth-silver (BiAg11) clearly meets the criterion of a solidus
>260°C. However, it does not solder in any useful, mechanicallystrong, way to standard die and leadframe/DBC metallizations. Yet, it
has been found that by adopting a mixed alloy approach [5], it is possible to significantly enhance the solderability – even onto challenging
surfaces such as alloy 42 (Figure 2). Die-attach to common leadframe
surfaces, such as “bare” (or organically-treated) copper, silver spotplate, and common die surface finishes including Ti ENIG, ENEPIG
and NiAg, is therefore feasible using this approach.
Figure 1: Higher melting solders
Many of these look extremely promising as HTPbF (high-temperature
lead-free) solders, as they meet the JEDEC/IPC J-STD-020 requirement for an implicit melting point (solidus) above 260°C (or 265°C,
depending on your interpretation of the standard). However, each
solder has a fundamental flaw or flaws, that makes it difficult to implement as a die-attach material:
• Antimony (Sb)-based solders are not acceptable to some customers, and do not quite meet the reflow temperature requirements
• Zinc (Zn)-based solders oxidize readily, making void-free reflow difficult to implement without severe process constraints
44
Bodo´s Power Systems®
Figure 2: Comparison of BiAg11 and BiAgX®
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
electrical engineering soft ware
THE SIMULATION SOFTWARE PREFERRED
BY POWER ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS
KEY FEATURES
Electrical
Fast simulation of complex systems
Control
Code generation
Thermal
Frequency analysis
Magnetic
Available as standalone program
Mechanical
or Simulink blockset
se
Get a free test licen
al
w w w.plexim.com/tri
carabinbackhaus.com
MODELING DOMAINS
TECHNOLOGY
CONTENT
For this reason, this unique alloy-design approach was taken to begin
to develop an HTPbF solder paste material with the key characteristics of:
• Drop-in alternative to standard solder paste (deposit, reflow, and
cleaning) processes without capital expenditure
• Printable and dispensable versions, just like any other solder paste
• No pressure needed on die and no extraneous process steps
• Solderable to standard die and leadframe/DBC metallizations,
including NiAu, NiAg and Cu and CuAg, to meet widely-accepted
industry standards of <5% single and <10% total voiding
• Solidus of final joint >260°C
• Reliability of final joint
• Fluxes that are washable with standard cleaning chemistries
• Cost parity with standard solder materials (no gold, indium or specialty materials such as nano particulates)
BiAgX® Metallurgy
The basis of the BiAgX® solder paste technology is the use of two or
more different solder alloys in combination. An outline of the technology is shown in Figure 3. During reflow (A), a tin-based, lower-melting
alloy melts first (B), dissolving any sacrificial protective metals (such
as gold or silver) and soldering to copper and nickel through the free
energy of formation of intermetallics. As the temperature rises further,
the second, higher-melting phase begins to melt, at its own solidus
temperature. As it melts, the high-melting alloy dissolves into the
(now molten) lower-melting liquid phase. Heating continues until the
liquidus of the higher melting phase is reached and all the solder is
molten (C). If voiding is sufficiently low, the joint can now be allowed
to cool down.
Figure 3: Basis of BiAgX® solder paste technology
By an appropriate choice of alloy in the appropriate ratio, the lowmelting phase that is necessary for the functioning of the BiAgX® can
be completely consumed by reaction to intermetallics during reflow,
preventing remelt below the standard 260°C limit for J-STD-020
preconditioning.
The reliability of BiAgX® joints has been studied under high-temperature storage (200°C) [6] (data shown in Figure 4) and JEDEC thermal
cycling and thermal shock conditions and been shown to be significantly improved over standard high-Pb solders [7].
Figure 4: Die shear strength of 2x2 mm SiC die on DBC substrates as
a function of aging time at 200°C
Conclusion
The mixed alloy solder paste approach is showing wide acceptance
among customers in the target market of discrete and small power
module power management devices, especially by those located in
Asia.
The technique also shows much broader applicability in some MEMS
and SMT applications requiring a higher temperature Pb and Sb-free
solder. A family of solder paste materials based around this technology [5] is under development to meet specific customer needs.
References:
[1] http://www.indium.com/blog/elv-2014-high-lead-pb-in-automotiveelectronics-is-good-until-at-least-2023.php.
[2] Lalena et al. “Experimental Investigation of Ge-Doped Bi-11Ag as
a New Pb-Free Solder Alloy for Power Die Attachment” Journal of
Electronics Materials, 31(11), 2002, pp. 1244-1249.
[3] Russo et al. “Reliability of new Pb free die attach materials for
power devices,” Proceedings of Automotive Electronics Council
Reliability Workshop 2014, Novi, MI.
[4] Siow, “Are sintered silver joints ready for use as interconnect
materials in microelectronic packaging?” Journal of Electronic
Materials, 43/4, 2014 pp. 947-961.
[5] US Patent 9,017,446.
[6] Johnson et al. “Lead-free Solder Attach for 200°C Applications,“
Proceedings of iMAPS HiTen Conference, Oxford, UK, 2013.
[7] Zhang et al. “Reliability of Lead-Free BiAgX Pastes for High
Temperature Die-Attach Application,” Proceedings of TMS Conference, San Antonio, TX, 2013.
Reliability
Low solder joint voiding is key to the functioning (characterized by
RDSon and, more critically, RthJC) and reliability of the finished device. Voiding is a function of several factors, including flux formulation,
powder oxidation, and surface metallization. This can be controlled
well within standard needs for smaller module and discrete devices
[6].
46
Bodo´s Power Systems®
November 2015
www.indium.com
www.bodospower.com
Motor Control
Automotive
Consumer Products
+
Power Transmission
*
Renewables
Traction
=
Always first-class results:
Power Devices
from Mitsubishi Electric.
Precise and efficient control of dynamic processes puts heavy demands
on the components used. When it counts, power devices from Mitsubishi
Electric are always first choice. Because, in addition to many innovations,
they consistently provide added quality, performance and robustness – and
therefore reliably ensure first-class results.
More information: semis.info@meg.mee.com / www.mitsubishichips.eu
*
7 th Generation IGBT Module NX-Package
– 7 th Generation IGBT with CSTBT ™ Chip Technology
– Superior power cycling capacity by optimized bonding
– Integrated NTC for TC-sensing
– Comprehensive line-up for 650V and 1200V
– High thermal cycling capability by Insulated Metal Baseplate
– High power cycling capability by direct potting
– Pre-applied Phase Change Material and PressFit
PASSIVE
CONTENT
COMPONENTS
The Focus is on Passive
Components for Further
Gains in SMPS Efficiency
Efficiency has - at last - achieved prime importance in power supply design.
For offline SMPS < 1 KW which constitute the majority, available active components,
including SiC and GaN, in optimum circuit configurations like cascodes, are so
advanced that the focus is now squarely on improving the passive components.
By Dr.-Ing. Artur Seibt
Shields
The function of shields against hf fields is also based on the skin
effect. Ideally, a shield is a box, the incident hf fields cause eddy
currents, their fields act against the external fields and weaken them
by extracting energy and convert this to heat. The power loss in the
shield is given by:
Pv = H2 √(πμρf) = H2 x 1/δ
The shielding effect is the better the smaller the depth of penetration δ
and the higher the conductivity κ = 1/ρ are. Copper is the best material, contact areas must be all around. Higher permeability improves the
shielding, but it causes higher losses to the impinging field. Consequently, the best shield is a two-layer construction: on the outside,
towards the field, copper, on the inside high permeability material like
iron or mumetal. The thickness of the copper does not have to exceed
3 to 5 δ. In lf fields only the high permeability material will be effective,
but not any more by virtue of the skin effect; the magnetic field lines
will be attracted by the high magnetic conductivity of the iron and
conducted past the object to be shielded. Note: mumetal’s saturation
is low, it can only be used in weak fields. Ferromagnetic mulitlayer
shields will increase the shielding by μn .
Shields between the primary and secondary of transformers should
be made of high resistivity material <= δ/3 and have minimal insulated
overlap, because this is a capacitor through which hf currents complete a shorted turn. Losses are proportional to the conductivity and
to the third power of the thickness.
The proximity effect
A single conductor and the pure skin effect are rare in electronics. As
soon as other fields are present, the much more important proximity
effect has to be reckoned with whereever two or more magnetic hf
fields exist, like in SMPS. Circuit layout, especially the conductor
layout on e.c. boards and all design of inductive components require
strict obedience to its rules
The proximity effect is best described by Fig. 12. Assume two conductors which carry the same hf current in opposing directions. As long
as they are far apart, they do not influence each other, the current
densities will conform to the skin effect. As soon as they come close
, the fields add between them and subtract on their opposite sides.
Because the field strength H is linked to the current by H = I x N/l , the
currents will concentrate on the sides facing each other.
48
Bodo´s Power Systems®
Figure 12: Two neighbouring conductors carrying opposing currents
(as shown by the dot (point of an arrow) and the cross (denoting the
rear of the arrow). The fields between them add while the fields on
the opposite sides subtract. The field strength is highest between the
conductors, so are the related current densities.
This follows again from the law of minimizing the energy content resp.
minimizing the inductance. Note that most of the conductor material
towards the outer sides does not contribute to the energy transport
and could be dispensed with! This is analogous to the center area of a
conductor when only the skin effect is present.
Considerations in e.c. board design
In order to highlight the enormous importance of the proximity effect,
consider two conductors on an e.c. board as shown in Figs. 13 and 14.
Fig. 13 depicts the situation if the two conductors are side by side.
Providing wide conductors for high hf currents is futile; the currents
concentrate at the gap, increasing the current density and causing
high losses.
Figure 13: Current concentration in two flat conductors side by side on
an e.c. board. Wide conductors are nothing but a waste of copper
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
Do you need Digital Power with
next-generation capabilities?
New dsPIC® DSCs set benchmarks for size, latency and power consumption
Enabling sophisticated control algorithms operating at higher switching frequencies
and Live Update Flash, Microchip’s 16-bit dsPIC33EP “GS” Digital Signal Controllers offer
next-generation digital-power performance.
These DSCs consume up to 80% less power in any application and provide less than
half the latency of the previous generation when used in a three-pole three-zero
compensator.
In addition to exceptional performance for non-linear, predictive and adaptive control
algorithms, the DSPIC33EP “GS” family offers higher integration and more features in
packages which include the industry’s smallest digital-power-optimised DSC,
4 x 4 mm UQFN.
www.microchip.com/get/eudspic33ep
The Microchip name and logo is a registered trademark of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies.
© 2015 Microchip Technology Inc. All rights reserved. DS70005225A. MEC2015Eng05/15
PASSIVE
CONTENT
COMPONENTS
Fig. 14 shows that running the currents through a pair of conductors
on both sides of the board would result in uniform distribution and lowest eddy current losses, fairly low emi. For a copper thickness of <=
200 μm which is within δ the skin effect will be low. Conductors can
be wide for high currents without a penalty. This is all right for low voltages; with high voltages like the 360 + Vp in a PFC dielectric losses in
the board will accrue which could be higher. A typical example of such
a conductor pair: from the transformer to the rectifier diode(s), through
the filter capacitor and back to the transformer; from the filter capacitor onwards to the output there is only dc.
Figure 14: Current concentration in two flat conductors on both sides
of an e.c. board. The distance w is here given by the board thickness,
usually 1.5 mm, so the proximity effect is less pronounced.
Consequences for all conductors of hf currents:
1. The distance between two conductors side by side must not be
greater than necessary for the voltage between them. This is also
necessary because the area in between would act as an antenna and
emit strong emi fields.
50
Some considerations in choke and transformer design
Unless skin and the proximity effects are duly considered in all choke
and transformer design, excessive unnecessary “inexplicable” losses
are programmed! A description of all implications of these effects on
SMPS transformer design and the right selection of ferrites requires
many pages and is postponed to a later article. The professional
design of these components belongs to the most demanding tasks
in SMPS design - and not the design of the regulation loops which
is a menial task. In this paper only some general rules and typical
examples about hf transformer design are described; the purpose is
to demonstrate and warn that hf transformer design is indeed very
difficult and follows its own rules which differ substantially from 50
Hz design. Some examples: 1. The winding material of choice is hf
litz wire, the second best is solid wire < = 0.24 mm. 2. All layers must
be completely and evenly filled. 3. The number of layers must be
minimized.
Handling few turns
Secondary windings consist often only of a few turns. It would be absolutely false to just wind those in a layer and leave the rest free; the
coupling would be poor, especially detrimental in flyback transformers. It would also be a waste of space. The right method is to wind
several thinner wires in a multi-filar winding so to fill the layer entirely.
If this turns out to be not feasible, the multi-filar turns should be evenly
distributed over the whole layer.
2. Side by side conductors can not carry high currents, those can
only be conducted with lowest losses on top of each other i.e. on both
sides of the board. 3. In practice side by side conductors are unavoidable, the right method is to increase the copper thickness. As a rule,
SMPS boards should always use 105 to 200 μm, 35 μm is something
for logic boards. In the process of improving efficiency the first step
should be increasing the copper to >= 200 μm! Note that any coating
ontop of the copper will influence losses: nickel would be poor. As
pure copper will also corrode with time, it is protected by the usual
coating of the whole board.
Note that this is only meaningful if it occurs in the same layer! It is not
possible to subdivide the copper area required for a winding in such
a way that part of the paralleled wires is placed in one layer and the
other part in another one. This would be disastrous because the law
of minimizing the energy content would cause all the current to flow
only in the one layer facing the primary, causing excessive losses,
the layer ontop would not carry any current. Another example: If a
designer needs a thick foil for a high current, much thicker than δ,
and, realizing this, he might think he could fight the skin and proximity
effects by subdividing the foil in e.g. 10 thin insulated ones, all <= 0.24
mm, wound in 10 layers, connected in parallel, he would be grossly
disappointed, because the current would only flow in the first of the
ten, facing the primary, no current in the other nine with the consequence of extremely high losses. See also 6.2.3.
Figure 15: Parallel winding of several thinner wires is equivalent to
one conductor of the same shape, e.g. an ideal copper foil. Between
wires the flux lines will cancel. The wires must be < = 0.24 mm anyway. Hf litz wire preferred
Figure 16: (A): Flux density B in a transformer with one P- and one Swinding; it is highest between P and S.
(B): The same in a transformer with the secondary sandwiched
between P/2. In the middle of S the flux density crosses zero, Bmax is
halved. The flux in the secondary is opposed to the flux in the primaries and is counted as negative flux.
Bodo´s Power Systems®
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
The Ultimate Flyback
InnoSwitch™ -EP —
Revolutionizes Auxiliary &
Standby Power Supplies
The FluxLink™ safety-isolated communications link is faster
and more reliable than an optocoupler and more precise than a
transformer sense winding. Incorporating FluxLink technology,
the InnoSwitch family of switcher ICs dramatically simplify
Features
• CV/ CC flyback controller, 725 V MOSFET
• Secondary-side sensing and synchronous
rectification driver
implementation of flyback power supplies while slashing
• Less than 10mW no-load consumption
the component count. By unifying primary, secondary and
• Excellent multi-output cross-regulation
synchronous rectifier controllers in a single package, FluxLink
• Low component count
permits spectacular improvements in operational efficiency,
no-load energy use and output accuracy.
InnoSwitch; the Ultimate Flyback.
• Ease of manufacturability
• Meets all global energy efficiency
regulations
For more go to
www.power.com
igbt drivers
PASSIVE
CONTENT
COMPONENTS
Leakage flux, leakage inductance, partitioning
In an ideal transformer the primary and secondary fields cancel. In
practice the main flux will flow in the core, but a part, the leakage flux,
flows through the windings, it is not the same in all windings and not
even in all turns of one winding. The resultant leakage inductance is
measured by shorting the secondary and measuring the primary inductance, it is given as a percentage of the primary inductance when
all secondaries are open. In a simple transformer, the density of the
leakage flux is highest between primary (P) and secondary (S), to the
sides it decays linearly. It can be decreased by splitting P, see Fig. 16,
The number of turns as well as the number of layers of P must
be even. The secondaries may be an uneven number. This is the
standard execution of SMPS transformers. A further subdivision of
windings yields no appreciable advantages. In the first place, at each
P - S interface a 4 KVrms insulation would be required; this would
cause a substantial loss of winding space, also cost and complexity
would rise.
Low leakage is especially required for the most important SMPS flyback transformers. Apart from the standard splitting of the P winding,
it is often necessary to further subdivide the secondaries which can
become fairly complicated. This e.g. the case for achieving a good
cross regulation behaviour in flybacks.
Multilayer windings
In SMPS transformers the eddy current losses increase exponentially
with the number of layers. This is why the special SMPS transformer
styles like ETD should be preferred, they are long so the number of
layers, the leakage and the losses are minimized. Dowell presented
1966 the basic calculations of the AC resistance resp. the ratio RAC /
RDC = FR shown in Fig. 17. It is hence futile to try to get high voltages out of a SMPS by just increasing the number of layers, there are
still more salient reasons why this way is impossible.
Assuming a path of the leakage flux in a distance x as measured
from the coil former running through the window, assuming further a
constant current density within the P winding the leakage flux density
is given by:
Bx = μo . lw/H . x/bs bs : Length of leakage flux path external to the core, it isequal to the
width of a layer.
The leakage flux is parallel to the layers and perpendicular to the
turns; it generates eddy currents in the conductors. The leakage flux
density changes from layer to layer.
Figure 18: The same
picture, the vertical
scale extended by
one decade. Beyond
d/δ the curves approximate the linear
relationship FR =
nLayers x d/δ.
Low leakage inductance s is essential for all high quality transformers,
it limits also the usable bandwidth: fupper /flower = 4/s. As an example:
a high fidelity transformer requires a 16 times subdivison of windings.
Beyond FR = 1.5 the losses attain fast inacceptable levels.
The curves demonstrate again that solid wires in SMPS must not be
thicker than 0,24 mm and that hf litz wire is the material to use, with
wires of <= 0.1 mm, better <= 0.07 mm.
For sine wave currents FR is given by:
FR = (heff /δ)/tanh (heff /δ) + [(nLagen 2 - 1) /3] x 2 (heff/δ) tanh (heff /
2δ);
For the n-th layer:
Figure 17: RAC /RDC as a function of the ratio layer (or wire)thickness/δ, the number of layers is the parameter. Even if the diameter of
a wire is equal to δ ( = 1), for two layers the AC resistance is already
100 % higher, for 10 layers 12 times as much! At first sight, a wire
diameter of 2 δ should be acceptable: the diagram shows that the
AC resistance would already be 80 % higher. Hence 0.24 mm is the
largest diameter for SMPS, period.
52
Bodo´s Power Systems®
FR, nth = (heff /δ)/tanh (heff /δ) + 2 (heff /δ) tanh (heff /2δ)
heff : height of a layer/wire
For round wires wound without spaces h = 0.834 d.
November 2015
Dr.-Ing. Artur Seibt
Lagergasse 2/6,A 1030 Wien (Vienna)
http//members.aon.at/aseibt
www.bodospower.com
NEW
CONTENT
PRODUCTS
700 V SiC MOSFETs
Stable RDS(on) vs. temperature and robust
The 700 V/70 A SiC MOSFET APT70SM70 from Microsemi/Eurocomp are designed to help customers develop solutions that operate
at higher frequency and improve system efficiency. Microsemi’s SiC
MOSFET APT70SM70 features include:
Best-in-class RDS(on) vs. temperature (see figure)
Ultra-low gate resistance for minimizing switching energy loss
Superior maximum switching frequency
Outstanding ruggedness with superior short circuit withstand
The APT70SM70 is rated at 53 milliohms and provide customers
more development flexibility by offering both industry standard TO247 and SOT-227 packages.
The 700 V SiC MOSFET APT70SM70 and a downscaled version APT35SM70 (100 milliohms) and also a upscaled version
APT130SM70 (33 milliohms) will also be soon available in Microsemi’s (S) D3 and (Q) PQFP (8 x 8 mm) Surface Mount Packages. The
PQFP package also features a Kelvin Source connection.
Microsemi’s 700 V SiC MOSFETs are establishing a new benchmark
for performance.
www.eurocomp.de
Thermal Cycling for Power Device Circuit Design
The integration of rapid temperature cycling
with the Keysight B1506A Power Device
Analyzer has been introduced by inTEST
Thermal Solutions and Keysight. The Temptronic® ThermoStream® temperature forcing
system automates temperature cycling of
power devices by interfacing with a specially
designed enclosure from Keysight. Programmable control of ThermoStream systems
permit a wide range of temperatures, from
-100 to +300°C. With fast thermal cycling
rates, the ThermoStream promotes rapid circuit design of power devices such as IGBTs
and MOSFETs.
Programmable hot and cold thermal cycling
adds to the previously announced capability
where power devices are in contact with an
inTEST Thermal hot plate integrated in the
Analyzer’s test fixture.
These thermal products are manufactured
by inTEST Thermal Solutions, located in
Mansfield, MA USA.
http://intestthermal.com/keysight-analyzerthermal-test-system
http://intestthermal.com
Fastest 600-V Gate Driver Enables Higher Power Density
Texas Instruments introduced the industry’s fastest half-bridge gate
driver for discrete power MOSFETs and IGBTs that operate up to 600
V. The UCC27714 high-side, low-side driver with 4-A source and 4-A
sink current capability reduces component footprint by 50 percent,
enabling higher power density in high-frequency, offline AC/DC power
supplies used in server, telecom and industrial designs including uninterruptible power supplies. For more details, see http://www.ti.com/
UCC27714-pr-eu.
The UCC27714 delivers 90 nanosecond (ns) propagation delay, 40
percent lower than existing silicon solutions, tight control of the propagation delay with a maximum of 125 ns across -40 C to 125 C and
tight channel-to-channel delay matching of 20 ns across -40 C to 125
C. The device eliminates the need for bulky gate drive transformers,
saving significant board space in high-frequency switch-mode power
electronics.
www.ti.com
54
Bodo´s Power Systems®
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
NEW
CONTENT
PRODUCTS
High Performance DT-Triac™
Technology Platform with
1600V/1800V Discretes and Modules
IXYS Corporation announced the expansion of the “Dual Thyristor –
Triac” technology platform (DT-Triac™) for 1600V up to 1800V.
The DT-Triac™ technology distinguishes itself as a high performance
solution in Triac related applications with superior ruggedness and
better dV/dt and di/dt ratings when compared to state of the art triacs.
The DT-Triac products use IXYS’ advanced planar thyristors that
extend the current and voltage ratings of Triacs beyond the limitations
of current triac technology.
Presently IXYS has offered a wide portfolio of 1200V DT-Triac™ in
several standard housings including the established ISOPLUS technology for in-package isolation. With these new products the range is
extended to 1600V Triacs.
The first products are two 60 Amp discrete devices in the TO-247
case style, the CMA60MT1600NHB with the standard TO-247 case
and the CMA60MT1600NHR providing the same outline and pin compatibility but with a ceramic backside (DCB) for a high performance
isolation. Other current classes are in planning.
On the module side IXYS provides two power classes in two different
packages. MCMA650MT1800NKD is a high reliable 1800V Triac in
the common housing Y1 (50 mm).
Next to this powerful AC-Controller, IXYS shows a special 700A
phase-leg in its new ComPack package outline. The MCMA700P1600NCA connected in an anti-parallel mode creates a 1600A PowerTriac that combines all the advantages for a Triac application with the
capability and high performance of singles thyristors in this current
class.
http://www.ixys.com
POWER TO MAKE
LIFE COOLER
With its best-in-class performance enabling heat
loss reduction, the UMOS IX helps to keep you cool.
Our DTMOS family with its compact design delivers
high efficiency and power density. So whatever your
application,Toshiba has the power to make it happen.
•
•
•
•
•
UMOS IX: 30V ~ 60V MOSFETs with RDS(on)
down to 0.6mΩ
DTMOS - low loss performance in 600V,
650V & 800V class
Smallest packaging (SMOS line-up)
SiC Diodes
Automotive MOSFETs -60V ~ +100V
toshiba.semicon-storage.com/eu/power
www.bodospower.com
November 2015
Bodo´s Power Systems®
55
NEW
CONTENT
PRODUCTS
The Ultimate Power Combo for 2-in-1s, Ultrabooks and Tablets
Intersil Corporation introduced its latest power saving solutions for
2-in-1s, ultrabooks and tablets: the ISL95852 highly integrated power
management IC (PMIC) and the ISL95521 battery charger. Both
devices meet Intel‘s IMVP8 specifications to support its new “Skylake”
6th Gen Intel Core processors. The ISL95852 and ISL95521 leverage
Intersil’s patented R3™ modulation technology, which delivers bestin-class light load efficiency, superior regulation accuracy and fast
dynamic response, resulting in better system power management and
longer battery life.
The ISL95852 is the industry’s most integrated Vcore PMIC for IMVP8
platforms. Its 4mm x 4mm size and high switching frequency enable
the use of small external inductors and capacitors to reduce board
space by 50% compared to discrete solutions. The ISL95852 integrates control, MOSFET drivers, power MOSFETs and fault monitoring and protection for three synchronous buck switching regulators.
These high-efficiency voltage regulators convert system voltage from
a battery or AC adapter into three voltage rails required for the core
processor, graphics processor and system agent. The ISL95852’s
programmable switching frequency is 2x faster than competitive solutions and is adjustable up to 1.3MHz during load transients.
The ISL95521 is the industry’s first Hybrid Power Boost (HPB) and
Narrow VDC (NVDC) combination battery charger. Its charge current
accuracy of 1.2% is 4x higher than competing solutions, and extends
battery run-time while enabling faster system test and calibration for
improved manufacturing yields. The ISL95521 combo battery charger
is pin-configurable for HPB or NVDC mode, eliminating the need for
circuit redesigns. Both configurations support 2-cell to 4-cell Li-ion
batteries as well as system turbo-boost-mode, which helps the battery
and AC adapter work together to supply the system load when it exceeds the adapter’s capability. The HPB charger configuration reverse
boosts battery energy to the system bus in turbo mode, while the
NVDC charger quickly turns on the battery BGATE to help the adapter
deliver system power.
www.intersil.com
Electric Automation
Systems and Components
International Exhibition
Nuremberg, Germany, 24 – 26 November 2015
Answers for automation
Visit SPS IPC Drives and experience the unique working
atmosphere at Europe’s leading exhibition in the field of
electric automation:
• a comprehensive market overview
• more than 1,600 exhibitors including all key players
• products and solutions
• innovations and trends
56
sps@mesago.com
Bodo´s Power
Systems®
www.sps-exhibition.com
et
entry tick
ickets
Your free
ition.com/t
ib
h
ex
sp
www.s
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
SMALL,
FAST AND
AFFORDABLE
flowPHASE 0 family featuring NTC
1200 V / 40 – 100 A
The go-to building block for your engineering efforts: Enhance charger,
SMPS, solar and ESS applications‘ performance; slash costs with these
speedy, compact modules‘ high power density.
Main benefits
/ High-voltage, half-bridge topology
/ High-speed switching up to 50 kHz
/ High power density
/ Ultra-low conduction and switching losses
/ Best-in-class Rth with AlN DCB
www.vincotech.com/flowPHASE-0
E
L
P
M
A
S
.com/
cotech ple
in
.v
w
m
ww
-0-sa
PHASE
International Exhibition and Conference
on Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC)
Duesseldorf, Germany, 23 – 25 February 2016
Step into the European market!
Participate at Europe's leading event
on electromagnetic compatibility from
23 – 25 February 2016 in Germany.
1100 W Front-End Power
Supply Series Expanded to
Include DC Input Versions
CUI Inc announced an addition to its line of 1100 W front-end power
supplies to include dc input versions. The PSD-1100-12 series delivers high power density and achieves Platinum efficiency in a compact
slim line 1U package measuring just 1.575 x 2.145 x 12.65 inches
(40 x 54.5 x 321.3 mm). The narrow 54 mm profile allows designers
to minimize application space compared to larger solutions on the
market. The power supply outputs 12 Vdc with 5 Vdc or 3.3 Vdc pinselectable standby. The PSD-1100-12 is hot pluggable with a dc input
connector at the front and an industry standard output connector that
integrates dc power and signal pins at the back. With an input range
of 40~72 Vdc, the unit is designed to be compatible with CUI’s existing ac input PSA-1100-12, allowing plug and play operation between
the two versions. The series is ideally suited for telecom, server and
networking rack mount applications where a mix of ac input and dc
input versions are required.
The PSD-1100-12 features system communications via I2C/PMBus™
protocol for control and monitoring of the unit. The main 12 Vdc output
delivers up to 92 A with droop current sharing for paralleling multiple
units; forced current sharing is optional. For maximum flexibility, the
series is available in front-to-back or back-to-front airflow configurations depending on the application’s cooling requirements. The PSD1100-12 also offers 60950-1 safety approvals, bears the CE Mark,
and complies with all applicable EMC requirements to accommodate
world wide applications. Protections for over-voltage, over-current,
over-temperature, and input under-voltage are standard.
Samples are available immediately; please contact CUI for more
information.
www.cui.com
Further information:
web: e - emc.com
phone: + 49 711 61946 63
email: emv@mesago.com
www.bodospower.com
Connecting Global Competence
SEE THE BIG PICTURE
IN THE SMALLEST DETAIL.
Future prospects for innovative, future markets.
Future Markets
Parallel event: IT2Industry
Trade fair and open conference
World’s leading trade fair for electronics development
and production. 40 years of innovation.
November 10–13, 2015
Messe München
www.productronica.com
Buy ticket or redeem
voucher now!
productronica.com/en/tickets
NEW
CONTENT
PRODUCTS
Multiple Frequency Harmonic Comb Injector Greatly Eases
EMI Testing
Picotest.com has released a new test signal generator for EMI testing
applications. The USB Harmonic Comb Injector, the latest edition to
Picotest’s popular line of Signal Injectors, is a fast, easy-to-use, ultraportable harmonic comb signal generator for interrogating your Power
Distribution Networks (‘PDN’) to identify noise sensitivities. A comb
signal generator is simply a device that produces a set of harmonically related CW signals whose spacing is based on a fundamental
oscillator frequency. Other applications include a general purpose
source for characterizing semi-anechoic chambers (for measurement
consistency day-to-day, and comparing one chamber to another) and
as a source for measuring cable, or other metallic structure, resonances especially for those who do not have access to a tracking
generator on their spectrum analyzers, or those who do not have a
network analyzer.
The comb injector includes impulse & square wave outputs and has
multiple modes of operation including time and frequency jitter. It is
designed for power supply and clock EMI spectrum testing and has
a usable frequency range of 1kHz to 1.5GHz with edges as fast as
300ps. The comb injector is USB powered with a single SMA output
connector. No external power supply is necessary.
There are 5 modes of operation available including 1kHz impulse,
100kHz impulse, and 8MHz impulse output, each with frequency
and pulse width dithering, a stepped mode that continuously steps
between the three impulse modes and a 1kHz square wave output
mode that is convenient for step load testing. Modes are changed via
Anz_ITPR_3_Blau.qxp
17.07.2009
17:00
a convenient pushbutton on the injector key with a color LED indication of the active mode.
“The portability of this EMI injector is an advantage over current
competitive solutions. The variable frequency comb is tremendously
useful accessory to the Keysight E5052B and N9020A, Tektronix
RSA5106A and RSA306, R&S FSW, FSMR and FSUP and virtually
all oscilloscopes” says Steve Sandler, CEO of Picotest. “With it I can
conveniently test Power Integrity and various EMI performance characteristics without having to carry around an AWG.”
The price of the Comb Injector is $895 in single quantities and is
available now from www.Picotest.com . The Injector is compatible with
all 50 ohm instruments.
Picotest.com
Seite 1
Power Your Recognition Instantly
Based in Munich, Germany, ITPR Information-Travels Public Relations is a full-service consultancy
with over a decade of experience in the electronics sector.
As a small exclusive agency, we offer extremely high ROI,
no-nonsense flexibility and highest priority to only a handful of companies.
Strategical Support
Corporate/Product Positioning, Market/Competitive Analysis, PR Programs, Roadmaps,
Media Training, Business Development, Partnerships, Channel Marketing, Online Marketing
Tactical PR
Writing: Press Releases, Feature Articles, Commentaries, Case Studies, White Papers
Organizing: Media Briefings, Road Shows, Product Placements in Reviews and Market Overviews,
Exhibitions, Press Conferences
Monitoring and Research: Speaking Opportunities, Editorial Calendars, Feature Placement,
Media Coverage, Competitive Analysis
Translations: Releases, By-Lined Articles, Websites, etc.
Call or contact us today for a free consultation on how PR
can dramatically affect your company’s bottom line.
ITPR Information-Travels Public Relations
Stefanusstrasse 6a, 82166 Gräfelfing-Munich, Germany
Tel ++49 (89) 898687-20, Fax ++49 (89) 898687-21,
electronics@information-travels.com
www.information-travels.com
60
Bodo´s Power Systems®
November 2015
www.bodospower.com
CONTENT
1700V SiC MOSFET
Richardson RFPD, Inc. announced the availability from
stock and full design support
capabilities for a new 1700V
SiC MOSFET from Wolfspeed,
a Cree Company.
The C2M1000170J features
high blocking voltage with
low RDS(on), low parasitic
inductance, ultra-low drain
gate capacitance, and a
separate driver source pin. It
is easy to parallel and simple
to drive. The new MOSFET
offers higher system efficiency,
smooth switching waveforms,
reduced cooling requirements, and increased system reliability.
It is ideally suited for auxiliary power supplies, switch mode power
supplies, and other applications involving high-voltage capacitive
loads.
According to Wolfspeed, additional key features of the C2M1000170J
include:
Drain source voltage (VDSmax): 1700V
Continuous drain current (ID) (@ 25 ºC): 5.3A
Drain-source on-state resistance (RDS(ON)) (@ 25 ºC): 1.0Ω
Package: low impedance, surface mount 7L D2PAK
www.richardsonrfpd.com
www.bodospower.com
November 2015
Bodo´s Power Systems®
61
March 20 -24
Long Beach Convention Center
Long Beach, California
The Premier Global Event
in Power Electronics
TM
Visit the APEC 2016 website
for the latest information:
www.apec-conf.org
NEW
CONTENT
PRODUCTS
34V Input Synchronous Step Down DC/DC Converter
Ricoh Europe has launched the high voltage step down DC/DC converter controller R1272 for general, industrial and automotive applications. The R1272 is especially designed as a power supply for core
application processors used in set top boxes, media players, internet
gateways and car infotainment/navigation systems. Such systems
provide advanced functionalities and require a low operating voltage
and high current power supply.
The R1272 has a wide input voltage range up to 34V and an adjustable output voltage from 0.7V to 5.3V. An additional external high
side and low side NMOS transistor is required for the R1272 DC/DC
Converter Controller. The total circuit is able to provide an output current up to a maximum of 20A. The oscillator frequency is adjustable in
a range from 250kHz to 1MHz through the use of an external resistor
and can be synchronized with an external clock when multiple DC/
DC Converters are used in the power supply. The phase compensation can also be adapted through an external resistor and capacitor
in order to do optimizations for the inductor and output capacitor. To
improve efficiency performance under light load conditions, the R1272
is able to switch automatically from PWM into VFM mode, but can be
set in a fixed PWM mode as well.
http://www.e-devices.ricoh.co.jp/en/
Straight to the optimized design
Laminated
bus bars
Cooling
systems
Fuses for
the protection
of power
semiconductors
ep.mersen.com
www.bodospower.com
November 2015
Bodo´s Power Systems®
63
CONTENT
The 1st Power Analyzer
... that lets you have it both ways.
Two paths.
One measurement.
In half the time.
Zero compromises.
The LMG600 family with its unique DualPath architecture is the
long-awaited solution to a well known dilemma. When optimizing
designs for power applications with high-frequency content, engineers were forced to choose between analysis on the full power spectrum or a specific portion only. Simultaneous measurements were impossible. To filter, or not to filter - that was the question.
Up to 7 channels · DC – 10 MHz · Accuracy 0.025 % · 500 µA to 32 A
DualPath is the answer.
3 mV to 1000 V · Touchscreen · Gbit-Ethernet · DVI / VGA interface
Experience the new LMG600 with DualPath live at:
Automotive Testing Expo USA 2015 · Oct 20-22 (Novi, MI, USA)
SPS/IPC/Drives 2015 · Nov 24-26 (Nuremberg, Germany)
APEC 2016 · Mar 20-24 (Long Beach, CA, USA )
flow7PACK Line family
Vincotech, a supplier of module-based solutions for power electronics,
announced the release of its new flow7PACK power modules engineered for motion control applications and exacting EMC standards.
Power electronics designers are constantly seeking innovative, flexible solutions to satisfy the industry’s tough demands for EMC, a small
footprint and low system costs. The flow7PACK line is a remarkably
flexible and convenient option for applications in which EMC presents
ZES ZIMMER (Headquarter): +49 6171 628750 · sales@zes.com
ZES ZIMMER Inc. (US): +1 760 550 9371 · usa@zes.com
www.zes.com
a problem because of the PIM module’s compact design. Equipped
with a brake and three phase inverter, a flow7PACK module can serve
as an independent solution that accommodates a locally separated
single-phase or a three-phase input rectifier in the design.
Featuring low-inductance layouts, clever pin-outs and very compact
17 mm housings, flow7PACK power modules serve applications ranging from 8 A to 100 A. Options include the
- flow 0 housing (flow7PACK 0) rated for 8 A, 15 A and 25 A
- flow 1 housing (flow7PACK 1) rated for 25 A, 35 A and 50 A
- flow 2 housing with a base plate (flow7PACK 2) and rated for 50 A,
75 A and 100 A.
Solder pins and a built-in NTC are standard, while Press-fit pins
and pre-applied phase-change material are available on demand.
Samples and datasheets are available on request. Serial production
is slated to commence in the second half of 2015.
www.vincotech.com
ABB Semiconductor
ABB France
Allegro
APEC
APEX
CDE
CUI
Danfoss
Dean Technology
Dr. Seibt
electronicon
emv
Fuji
GvA
Infineon
Intersil
64
C3+21
25
15
62
7
41
35
39
23
10
13
58
53
C2
C4
11
Bodo´s Power Systems®
Advertising Index
Isabellenhütte
ITPR
IXYS
LEM
Magnetics
Mersen
MEV
Microchip
Mitsubishi
Monolithics Power
Payton
PCIM Europe
Plexim
Productronica
Power Integrations
Powerex
November 2015
17
60
40
5
43
63
1
49
47
3
40
42
45
59
51
43
Proton
Raytheon
Recom
Rohm
Semikron
SMT
SPS IPC Drivers
Texas Instruments
Toshiba
USCi
Vincotech
VMI
Würth
ZES Zimmer
ZEZ Silko
61
33
31
9
27
55
56
29
55
19
57
61
37
64
1
www.bodospower.com
Medium power modules. Industry icons go quality.
Coming from high-power semiconductors, ABB is regarded as one of the world’s
leading supplier setting world standards in quality and performance. ABB’s unique
knowledge in high-power semiconductors now expands to industry standard
medium-power IGBT and bipolar (thyristor/diode) modules. ABB is launching the
• 62Pak: a 1,700 volt, 300 ampere, dual IGBT in a 62 mm package
• 20Pak, 34Pak, 50Pak and 60Pak: 1,600 - 6,000 volt, 120 - 830
ampere dual thyristor and dual diode modules in 20 - 60 mm packages
Demanding medium-power applications such as low-voltage drives, soft
starters, UPS and renewables benefit from ABB’s well-known experience and
quality.
For more information please contact us or visit our website:
www.abb.com/semiconductors
ABB Switzerland Ltd. / ABB s.r.o.
www.abb.com/semiconductors
abbsem@ch.abb.com
Tel.: +41 58 586 1419
1EDI EiceDRIVER™ Compact Family
Introducing the new family of 1200 V galvanically isolated
single-channel drivers with low pin count for quick design-in
Main Features
› Tight propagation delay matching
› Highest common-mode transient immunity (CMTI)
› Less temperature impact on operating conditions than
optocoupler solutions
› Input current consumption less than 100 µA
› Input-to-output isolation voltage up to 1200 V
› Optimized for high-voltage power MOSFETs and IGBTs
› Up to 6 A minimum peak rail-to-rail output
› Separate sink and source outputs or active Miller clamp
Applications
› MOSFET:
– Buck/boost converters
– Forklift drives
– PFC stages
– SMPS
– Telecom rectifiers
www.infineon.com/eicedriver-compact
› IGBT:
– Induction heating
– Industrial drives (GPI)
– Photovoltaic inverters
– UPS
– Welding equipment