Determination of the Complex Thermal Characteristics of Discrete Power Devices and Power Modules

Power devices raise new challenges in thermal characterization, as usually the operating currents, voltages and temperatures are high, and the relatively large device areas are represented by non-uniform temperatures at the physical boundaries of the structure, such as base plate, etc. The paper presents various methods for the thermal characterization of power devices, taking into consideration their switching characteristics. Both indirect temperature estimations based on the compact thermal model of the structure and direct temperature measurement methods are proposed.