Advanced power semiconductor technologies for efficient energy conversion

Abstract

Summary form only given. The role of power electronics and power devices in addressing the challenges in power and energy conversions and storage have continuously been very important and have been given wide attention also due to the fact that energy issues arising from climate change has risen to be a crucial global issue. In power electronic applications, the power density factor related to system designs has improved remarkably in the past two decades. The main contributions in this growth have come from timely development of newer power modules achieved through multi-dimensional major breakthroughs in IGBT and other power chip technologies, packaging structures and functionality integration concepts. Driven by various application needs in the past decades, various generations of power modules have evolved so far and have been widely applied in different power electronics equipment covering industrial motor controls, house-hold appliances, railway traction automotive power-train electronics, windmill and solar power generation systems etc. Today, power devices have become an extremely important component group for its role to sustain growth of power electronics and, thus, to contribute effectively in the current global effort to curb climate change. Under such backgrounds, this presentation is prepared to explain various state-of-the-art power device technologies focusing on IGBT modules and IPMs. It will also include highlights of future technological trends in such fields including prospects of SiC devices. Fig. 1 and 2 provide a summary of the presentation.