Power module, comprises a semiconductor switching element, a freewheel diode in antiparallel connection and a control integrated circuit

摘要

The power module comprises an insulator substrate (4), a base plate (2) having the role of a radiator or a heat sink fastened on one face of the substrate, an electrodes layer (6) formed on the other face of the substrate and carrying a circuit configuration which includes a semiconductor switching element (8), a freewheel diode (10) connected in antiparallel with the switching element, and a control integrated circuit (12) placed on the diode and used for controlling the switching element. The semiconductor switching element (8) is an insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), or a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). The insulator substrate (4) is preferentially of a material having high thermal conductivity. The control circuit (12) is mounted on the diode (10) by the intermediary of an insulator layer (14), for example of silicon nitride (Si3N4), and a fastening layer (16), for example of an insulating fastening agent. The switching element (8) allows a current through the freewheel diode (10) under the action of a counter-electromotive force which is generated at an instant of a switching operation and passes through the connecting wires (20). The control circuit (12) receives an input voltage to activate the switching element (8) on the basis of the input-output terminals (30), and by the intermediary of the connecting wires (20). A voltage and a current are applied to the electrodes layer (6) from a collector/drain terminal (32), and the voltage and the current are transmitted to an emitter/source terminal (31) from the diode (10) by the intermediary of the connecting wires (20). In the second embodiment, the switching element is adjacent to the diode, and the two are implemented in the form of a monolithic integrated circuit. In the third embodiment, the switching element, the diode, and the control circuit are mounted at the same level, and the three are implemented in the form of a monolithic integrated circuit, wherein the diode is inserted between the other two elements. In the fourth embodiment, the switching element is separated from the diode, and the diode and the control circuit are implemented in the form of a monolithic integrated circuit.