IGBT Power Stack Integrity Assessment Method for High-Power Magnet Supplies

This paper proposes a method for assessing the integrity of a series of insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) power stacks during factory-acceptance tests and service stops. The key challenge that is addressed in this paper is detecting common assembly issues that affect the power stack thermal path as well as distinguishing the acute aging effects of bond-wire lift-off and solder delamination. The method combines offline V_ce measurements with current in the extended Zero Temperature Coefficient (ZTC) operating region as well as with sensing current without modifications to the power stack. It also employs on-the-stack V_ce calibration for both the measurements. Additionally, only a fixed duty cycle pattern is needed to control the switches. The paper also presents a sensitivity analysis of the method to various parameters such as the current level in the extended ZTC operating region, the precision of the V_ce measurement, as well as the ambient, the cooling-water, and the junction temperatures. The experimental results are obtained from a high-current IGBT power stack used in a magnet power supply for particle accelerators and are compared favorably to results from finite element method and lumped parameter network simulations confirming the applicability of the method.