Characterization and Analysis of Insulated Metal Substrate-Based SiC Power Module for Traction Application

This paper presents the electrical characterization and drive cycle-based thermal analysis of an insulated metal substrate (IMS)-based silicon carbide power module for high-power traction inverters. The substrate was constructed using a thin layer of polymer-ceramic blend dielectric material with a thick copper core to improve transient thermal performance. The cooling performance of this module has already been validated with promising results. In this paper, an experimental test bed was set up to evaluate the dynamic and static electrical performance of the designed module under a wide range of operating conditions. The characterization results were then used to develop a drive cycle-based thermal model to validate the performance compared to the traditional direct bonded copper- based power module. The results indicate that the IMS-based power module is a suitable solution for high-power traction applications.