650V IGBTs claim High Efficiency for Fast Switching in EVs and HEVs

Infineon Technologies AG has announced a family of robust 650V IGBTs that can deliver highest efficiency in fast switching automotive applications. The AEC-Q-qualified TRENCHSTOP™ 5 AUTO IGBTs will reduce power losses and improve reliability in electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications such as on-board charging, power factor correction (PFC), dc-dc and dc-ac conversion.

The new IGBTs have a blocking voltage 50V higher than previous automotive IGBTs and achieve their ‘best-in-class’ efficiency ratings due to Infineon’s TRENCHSTOP 5 thin wafer technology. Compared with existing ‘state-of-the-art’ technologies, this technology reduces saturation voltage (V CE(sat)) by 200mV, halves switching losses, and lowers gate charge by a factor of 2.5. Improved switching and conduction losses also support lower junction and case temperatures than alternative technologies, leading to enhanced device reliability and minimizing the need for cooling.

By using TRENCHSTOP 5 AUTO IGBTs, designers of electric vehicles will realize efficiency gains that enable extended cruising ranges or smaller battery sizes. In the case of HEVs, the efficiency improvements can be used to reduce overall fuel consumption and drive down CO 2 emissions. In addition, the performance of the TRENCHSTOP 5 AUTO devices allows also entering MOSFET dominated applications and offering designers a wider spectrum of suitable semiconductor base technologies.

Featuring current ratings of 40A or 50A, TRENCHSTOP 5 AUTO IGBTs are available as single discrete IGBT device or co-packaged with an Infineon ultra-fast “Rapid” silicon diode. In each case the two variants H5 HighSpeed and F5 HighSpeed FAST can be supplied depending on whether optimized switching speed or highest possible efficiency is the overriding design criteria.

For a typical PFC used in on-board chargers the replacement of current ‘state-of-the-art’ technologies by TRENCHSTOP 5 AUTO IGBTs has been shown to deliver an efficiency increase from 97.5% to 97.9%. In the case of a 3.3kW charger this equates to a power loss reduction of 13W. Assuming a charging time of five hours, this would be equivalent to reducing CO 2 emissions by 30g in a single charging cycle. The 650V TRENCHSTOP 5 AUTO IGBTs are supplied in TO-247 packages. Engineering samples are available now, with volume production scheduled for March 2015.