This description relates to power converter modules.
In electrical engineering, power conversion is the process of converting electric energy from one form to another. A power converter module is an electrical device that includes a power converter that can convert electrical energy. Some power converters convert direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC). Such power converters are sometimes referred to as a DC-to-AC power converter, or more simply as a power inverter. Some power converters convert AC into DC, such power converters are referred to as AC-to-DC power converters. Still other power converters, namely a DC-to-DC power converter converts a source of DC from one voltage level to another voltage level.
Gallium Nitride (GaN) has a relatively high electron mobility and saturation velocity that enables the employment of GaN for high-power and high-temperature microwave applications. High-power/high-frequency devices based on GaN include microwave radio-frequency power amplifiers (such as those used in high-speed wireless data transmission) and high-voltage switching devices for power grids. More particularly, GaN is employable to fabricate GaN field effect transistors (FETs). As compared with a metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET), the GaN FET has a lower drain to source resistance when the GaN FET is on (RDs(oN)). Also, a GaN FET has lower input capacitance than a MOSFET, such that the GaN FET has a faster on/off switching rate.
A first example relates to a power converter module that includes a substrate having a first surface and a second surface that opposes the first surface. The power converter module includes a thick printed copper (TPC) substrate on the first surface of the substrate. The TPC substrate includes a first layer having TPC patterned on the first surface of the substrate and a second layer having dielectric patterned on the first layer. The TPC substrate includes a third layer having TPC patterned on the second layer. The power converter module includes power transistors mounted on the TPC substrate and a control integrated circuit (IC) chip mounted on the TPC substrate.
A second example relates to a method for fabricating a power converter module. The method includes forming a TPC substrate on a surface of a substrate. The forming includes patterning a first layer for the TPC substrate on the surface of the substrate, and the first layer has TPC traces and/or TPC pads and patterning a second layer of the TPC substrate on the first layer, and the second layer includes a dielectric. The forming also includes patterning a third layer of the TPC substrate on the second layer, and the third layer has TPC traces and/or TPC pads. The method also includes mounting power transistors on the TPC substrate and mounting a control IC chip on the TPC substrate. The method further includes applying wire bonding to couple the power transistors and the control IC chip to the TPC substrate.
This description relates to a power converter module that includes a thick printed copper (TPC) substrate. The power converter module is a multilevel switching power converter, such as a DC-to-DC converter or a DC-to-AC converter. The power converter module is fabricated with control IC chips that control power transistors to output high power. In various examples, the power transistors are implemented as gallium nitride (GaN) field effect transistors (FETs), but in other examples, other type of transistors, such as gallium oxide (GaO) or silicon carbide (SiC) transistors are also employable. In such examples, each of the control IC chips provides a corresponding control signal to a control node (e.g., a gate or base) of a subset of the power transistors. The power converter module is encased in a molding, such as plastic.
The TPC substrate is formed on a substrate of the power converter module. In some examples, the substrate is a ceramic core. In other examples, the substrate is a direct bonded copper (DBC) substrate. The TPC substrate is formed of layers of TCP (copper paste printed and fired) interleaved with layers of dielectric. More particularly, a first layer of the TPC substrate is formed by patterning TPC on the substrate of the power converter module. A second layer of the TPC substrate is formed by patterning dielectric on the first layer of the TPC substrate, and a third layer of the TPC substrate is formed by patterning a TPC on the second layer. In various examples, additional layers of dielectric and TPC are also included.
The TPC substrate includes pads for mounting components of the power converter module, such as the power transistors, the control IC chips and decoupling capacitors. The TPC substrate also includes TPC traces for efficient routing of signals. The efficient signal routing enabled by the TPC substrate allows for a reduction in size of the power converter module, as compared to a conventional power converter module that includes a printed circuit board (PCB). Also, the TPC substrate curtails parasitic inductance of a power loop in the power converter module thereby improving performance characteristics of the power converter module over conventional power converter modules that employ a PCB.
The power converter module 100 is fabricated with K number of control IC chips (hidden from view in
The TPC substrate 104 is mounted on a substrate 120. The substrate 120 includes a ceramic core 124. The ceramic core 124 has a first surface 128 and a second surface 132, and the first surface 128 opposes the second surface 132. In some examples, the TPC substrate 104 is mounted on the first surface 128 of the ceramic core 124, and a layer of copper 136 is mounted on the second surface 132 of the ceramic core 124. In other examples, the substrate 120 is a direct bonded copper (DBC) substrate, and the TPC substrate 104 is mounted on a copper layer of the DBC substrate. In some examples, a heat slug or heat sink is thermally coupled to the layer of copper 136.
The power converter module 100 is encased in a molding 140, such as plastic. In some examples, the power converter module 100 is mounted on a system bus. In such situations, the system bus is a communication bus for an external system, such as a communication bus of an automotive system.
The TPC substrate 104 is a multilayer substrate patterned to receive the first power transistor 108, the decoupling capacitor 118, the second power transistor 116 and the control IC chips of the power converter module 100. In the example illustrated, the TPC substrate 104 includes three (3) layers, but in other examples, there are more or less layers. A first layer 144 of the TPC substrate 104 is patterned on the first surface 128 of the ceramic core 124. The first layer 144 of the layer of the TPC substrate 104 is formed of TPC 148 (a copper paste) printed on the first surface 128 of the ceramic core 124 to form a pattern of TPC pads and/or traces and fired with high temperature (e.g., at 215 degrees Celsius or more).
A second layer 152 of the TPC substrate 104 is patterned on the first layer 144 of the TPC substrate 104. The second layer 152 of the TPC substrate 104 is formed with a layer of dielectric 156 that is patterned and etched. Moreover, TPC traces 160 are distributed within the second layer 152. The TPC traces 160 are formed by printing TPC on layers above the second layer 152, in a similar manner as the TPC 148 of the first layer 144 of the TPC substrate 104.
A third layer 164 of the TPC substrate 104 is patterned on the second layer 152 of the TPC substrate 104. The third layer 164 of the TPC substrate 104 is formed with TPC patterned on the second layer 152 to form TPC pads 166. In other examples, the third layer 164 also includes TPC traces. In some examples, the TPC traces 160 of the second layer 152 of the TPC substrate 104 provide a conductive path between the third layer 164 of the TPC substrate 104 and the first layer 144 of the TPC substrate 104. Stated differently, the TPC traces 160 of the second layer 152 of the TPC substrate 104 are vias.
In the example illustrated, the first power transistor 108, the second power transistor 116 and the decoupling capacitor 118 are mounted on the third layer 164 of the TPC substrate 104 with solder paste 170. Wire bonding is employed to couple the first power transistor 108 and the second power transistor 116 to the TPC substrate 104. More particularly, the first power transistor 108 is coupled to a TPC pad 166 of the third layer 164 of the TPC substrate 104 through a first wire bond 174. Also, the first power transistor 108 is coupled to a TPC trace 160 of the second layer 152 of the TPC substrate 104 with a second wire bond 176. In the example illustrated, the third layer 164 of the TPC substrate 104 includes a window 178 (alternatively referred to as a valley) that exposes the TPC trace 160 of the second layer 152 to the second wire bond 176 coupled to the first power transistor 108. The window 178 forms a void in the third layer 164 of the TPC substrate 104. In other examples, the window 178 is omitted. Also, a third wire bond 182 couples the second power transistor 116 to the decoupling capacitor 118, through a TPC pad 166 in the third layer 164 of the TPC substrate 104. Also, a fourth wire bond 184 couples the second power transistor 116 to a TPC pad 166 of the third layer 164 of the TPC substrate 104.
As noted above, the power converter module 100 is a multilevel power converter. In some such examples, each of the K number of control IC chips is dedicated to a particular switching level to control the power transistors (or some subset thereof) for intervals of a particular switching level operations of the power converter module 100. For instance, consider an example where the power converter module 100 has two (2) switching levels, a high side and a low side, a first subset of the power transistors are high side transistors and a second subset are low side transistors. In this situation, there are two control IC chips, namely a high side control IC chip and a low side control IC chip. Continuing with this example, in operation, the first control IC chip asserts a high side control signal during a high side switching level and de-asserts the high side control signal during the low side switching level. Assertion of the high side control signal turns on the first power transistor 108 (one of the high side transistors), causing the first power transistor to operate in the linear region or saturation region. Similarly, de-assertion of the high side control signal turns off the first power transistor 108, causing the first power transistor 108 to operate in the cutoff region. Also, in this example, the low side control IC chip asserts a low side control signal during a low side switching level and de-asserts the low side control signal during the high side switching level. Assertion of the low side control signal turns on the second power transistor 116 (one of the low side transistors), causing the second power transistor 116 to operate in the linear region or saturation region. Similarly, de-assertion of the low side control signal turns off the second subset of power transistors, causing the second subset of power transistors to operate in the cutoff region.
Continuing with this example, the low side control IC chip and the high side control IC chip are configured such that the high side control signal and the low side control signals are complementary signals. Accordingly, during operation, the power converter module 100 is configured such that the first power transistor 108 or the second power transistor 116 is turned on, and there is not a time that both the first power transistor 108 and the second power transistor 116 are both turned on.
More particularly, as noted above, the power converter module 100 is a multilevel switching power converter. The power converter module 100 is configured to be coupled to a load through leads to form a power loop. The switching loss (in volts), VSLoss of the power converter module 100 throug the power loop is defined by Equation 1.
As demonstrated in Equation 1, the switching loss, VsLoss increases as the parasitic inductance of the power converter module 100 increases. By forming the TPC substrate 104 directly on the substrate 120 (more particularly, on the first surface 128 of the ceramic core 124), the parasitic inductance, L of the power converter module 100 is curtailed. More specifically, the TPC substrate 104 curtails common source inductance that contributes the parasitic inductance, L by separating power and thermal with floating copper pads, such as the TPC pads 166 of the third layer 164 of the TPC substrate 104. In particular, the parasitic inductance, L of the power converter module 100 is about 100 nanohenries (nH) or less (e.g., about 0.87 nH). Unless otherwise stated, in this description, ‘about’ preceding a value means +/−10 percent of the stated value. Further, the power converter module 100 has a thermal resistance of about 1.02 degrees Celsius per watt (° C./W). Moreover, by situating the TPC substrate 104 directly on the first surface 128 of the ceramic core 124 (as opposed including a DBC substrate), the overall volume of the power converter module 100 is reduced by about 30%. Further, the TPC substrate 104 provides the TPC pads 166 for mounting components, thereby obviating the need for a PCB to mount such components.
Further, wire bonds, such as the second wire bond 176 coupled to the TPC trace 160 of the second layer 152 of the TPC substrate 104 through the window 178 in the third layer 164 of the TPC substrate 104 provides for efficient routing of wires, thereby reducing a size of the power loop, and curtailing an overall size of the power converter module 100.
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The first TPC layer 300 is printed and fired to adhere the first TPC layer 300 to the ceramic core 200. Although the example illustrated in
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Also, the TPC pad 320 includes a region 325 that extends beyond a first edge 326 of the first dielectric pad 310. In some examples, the region 325 (e.g., operating as a via) has a width of about 250 μm or more. Further, an edge 330 of the TPC pad 320 is spaced away from a second edge 332 of the first dielectric pad 310 by a distance of about 250 μm or more. Similarly, the TPC trace 324 has a first edge 336 and a second edge 338. The first edge 336 is about 650 μm or more from a first edge 340 of the second dielectric pad 312 and the second edge 338 is about 250 μm or more from a second edge 342 of the second dielectric pad 312.
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The power converter module 400 includes a control region 416 formed in the TPC substrate 404. The control region 416 provides TPC pads, such as the TPC pad 320 and/or the TPC pad 374 of
The power converter module 400 includes power transistors. More specifically, the power converter module 400 includes a high side power transistor 430 (e.g., the first power transistor 108 of
The high side power transistor 430 and the low side power transistor 434 are mounted on TPC pads 436 of the TPC substrate 404. The low side power transistor 434 is controlled by the low side control IC chip 424 of the control region 416, and the high side power transistor 430 is controlled by the high side control IC chip 420 of the control region 416. In some examples, the low side power transistor 434 and the high side power transistor 430 are implemented as GaN FETs, such as N-channel GaN FETs. In other examples, transistors such as SiC FETs or GaO FETs are employable as the low side power transistor 434 and the high side power transistor 430. In other examples, the low side power transistor 434 and the high side power transistor 430 are implemented as metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). In still other examples, the low side power transistor 434 and the high side power transistor 430 are implemented as bipolar junction transistors (BJTs). The power converter module 400 also includes decoupling capacitors 438 that are employable to implement the decoupling capacitor 118 of
As illustrated, throughout the TPC substrate 404, TPC traces 446 are included to provide conductive paths between components. Also, the dielectric 450 is included to provide insulation between the various instances of the TPC traces 446 and the TPC pads, such at the TPC pads 436 and the TPC pad 442. Further still, the power converter module 400 includes control pins 454 for controlling operations of the power converter module 400. The power converter module 400 also includes power pins 458 configured to couple the power converter module 400 to a load and to a power source.
As illustrated, the power converter module 400 is fabricated such that the TPC substrate 404 is mounted directly on the ceramic core 408, and components, such as the low side power transistor 434, the high side power transistor 430 and the decoupling capacitor 438 are mounted on TPC pads, such as the TPC pad 442. The TPC substrate 404 obviates the need for printed circuit boards (PCBs) or other features to mount circuit components, thereby reducing the size (volume) of the power converter module 400 and curtailing the parasitic inductance induced during operation.
The power converter module 500 includes a first high side transistor 504 and a second high side transistor 508 mounted on the TPC substrate. The first high side transistor 504 and the second high side transistor 508 correspond to the high side power transistor 430 of
In the example illustrated, there are four (4) power transistors illustrated, namely, the first high side transistor 504, the second high side transistor 508, the first low side transistor 512 and the second low side transistor 516. However, in other examples, such as the example illustrated in
The first high side transistor 504 and the second high side transistor 508 include a control node 522 (e.g., a gate or a base) that receives a high side control signal from a high side control IC chip 540. In some examples, the high side control signal provided to the control node 522 of the first high side transistor 504 and the control node 522 of the second high side transistor 508 are synchronous. Similarly, the first low side transistor 512 and the second low side transistor 516 include a control node 532 (e.g., a gate or a base) that receives a low side control signal from a low side control IC chip 542. In some examples, the low side control signal provided to the control node 532 of the first low side transistor 512 and the second low side transistor 516 are synchronous. Moreover, in some such examples, the high side control signal provided to the control node 522 of the first high side transistor 504 and the second high side transistor 508 are complements of the low side control signal provided to the control node 532 of the first low side transistor 512 and the second low side transistor 516.
The high side control IC chip 540 and the low side control IC chip 542 are mounted on a control region 543 (e.g., the control region 416 of
The power converter module 500 includes a positive DC input terminal 544 and a negative DC input terminal 546. The power converter module 500 also includes a DC output terminal 548. The DC output terminal 548 is coupled to a load 550 that is external to the power converter module 500. The positive DC input terminal 544 is coupled to a first input node 552 of the power converter module 500. The negative DC input terminal 546 is coupled to a second input node 556 of the power converter module 500. Also, the DC output terminal 548 is coupled to an output node 560 of the power converter module 500.
A first node of the decoupling capacitor 520 is coupled to the first input node 552 of the power converter module 500 and a second node of the decoupling capacitor 520 is coupled to the second input node 556. The first high side transistor 504 and the second high side transistor 508 include an input node 564 (e.g., a drain or collector) that is coupled to the first input node 552. The first high side transistor 504 and the second high side transistor 508 include an output node 568 (e.g., a source or emitter) that is coupled to the output node 560.
The first low side transistor 512 and the second low side transistor 516 include an input node 572 (e.g., a drain or collector) that is coupled to the output node 560 of the power converter module 500. The first low side transistor 512 and the second low side transistor 516 include an output node 576 (e.g., a source or emitter) that is coupled to the negative DC input terminal 546.
In operation, current flows in a current path 580 that traverses the decoupling capacitor 520, the first high side transistor 504, the second high side transistor 508, the first low side transistor 512 and the second low side transistor 516. The current path 580 forms a loop, alternatively referred to as a current loop. Components forming the loop, including traces, the first high side transistor 504, the second high side transistor 508, the first low side transistor 512 and the second low side transistor 516 intermittently contribute to a parasitic inductance in the loop formed by the current path 580. Accordingly, by mounting the components directly on the TPC, which is formed on a ceramic core (e.g., the ceramic core 124 of
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At 815, power transistors (e.g., the first power transistor 108 and the second power transistor 116 of
At 925, a dielectric layer (e.g., the first dielectric layer 308 of
Modifications are possible in the described embodiments, and other embodiments are possible, within the scope of the claims.