Junction temperature measurement of IGBTs using short circuit current

In this paper, a method is proposed to measure the junction temperatures of IGBT discrete devices and modules using short circuit current. Experimental results show that the short circuit current has good sensitivity, linearity and selectivity, which is suitable to be used as temperature sensitive electrical parameters (TSEP). Test circuit and hardware design are proposed for junction temperature measurement in single phase and three phase converters. By connecting a temperature measurement unit to the converter and giving a short circuit pulse, the IGBT junction temperature can be measured.

I. Introduction

IGBTs are widely used in a variety of industrial applications. In many applications such as aircraft and vehicles, the devices are required to operate at high junction temperatures due to the challenging thermal environment and the aggressive power density [1]–[4]. Therefore the temperature control and thermal management become more of a concern. Since the device junction temperature determines its survival and the reliability, it is critical to measure the junction temperature accurately.