Low Inductive SiC Power Module Design Using Ceramic Multilayer Substrates

This paper presents the module design of a novel 600 V / 200 A full silicon carbide (SiC) water-cooled half-bridge inverter module. The module is realized with a ceramic multilayer substrate with 3 copper and 2 ceramic layers which allows for an ultra-low power loop stray inductance value of 1.15 nH. Furthermore, the novel module design reveals improved switching behavior, decreased switching losses and improved common mode electromagnetic interference (EMI) performance with respect to a reference module. Thermal simulations reveal that the thermal performance of the novel design is comparable to conventional water cooling setups, even though the new cooler design is more compact. Due to the heat spreading within the relatively thick intermediate copper layer, the thermal influence of an additional ceramic layer can be compensated.