Peltier module based temperature control system for power semiconductor characterization

In the design or simulation phase of a power electronics converter, it is, among others, necessary to have accurate power semiconductor loss models. Such models can be extracted from datasheet values, but they do quite often not cover a wide variety of parameters such as dc-link voltage, temperature or even gate resistance. A double pulse test bench [1] was designed and built to measure switching losses of power semiconductors over a wide variety of different parameters. Some parameters, such as temperature or gate resistance, require additional hardware compared to setting a voltage or current level. This work will present a temperature control system installed in the afore mentioned test bench which enables automated temperature adjustment of the device under test (D.U.T.) by avoiding liquid based cooling setups. Positive as well as negative temperatures in the range of −40°C to 200°C are implemented. At first, the overall system concept and its features are presented. In a second part, focus is given to the different hardware key parts of the unit as well as insights into the temperature control. Measurement results showing the accuracy of the settled temperatures finalize this work.