An innovative technique for packaging power electronic building blocks using metal posts interconnected parallel plate structures

Power electronics building blocks (PEBB's) are envisioned as integrated pow er modules consisting of power semiconductor devices, power integrated circ uits, sensors, and protection circuits for a wide range of power electronic s applications, such as inverters for motor drives and converters for power processing equipment, At the Center for Power Electronics Systems, we deve loped a topology for a basic building block-a two-switch two-diode half-bri dge converter in totem-pole configuration with built-in gate-driver and pro tection circuitry, fiberoptic receiver/transmitter interface, and soft-swit ching capability. Based on the topology, a series of prototype modules, wit h 600 V, 3.3 kW rating, were fabricated using an innovative packaging techn ique developed for the program-metal posts interconnected parallel plate st ructure (MPIPPS). This new packaging technique uses direct attachment of bu lk copper, not wire-bonding of fine aluminum wires, fur interconnecting pow er devices. Electrical performance data of the packaged devices show that a n air-cooled 15 kW inverter, operating from 400 V de bus with 20 kHz switch ing frequency can be constructed by integrating three prototype modules, wh ich is almost double of what could not be achieved with commercially packag ed devices of the same rating.