Component · Power & Discretes
Power module
A packaged assembly containing several power dies, their interconnect and an isolated substrate, often on a common baseplate, presenting DC and AC terminals. Modules handle currents far above what a discrete package can, from tens to thousands of amperes.
- Also known as
- IPM, Power semiconductor module
- Type
- Component
- Domain
- Power & Discretes, Power packaging
Notes
Module design, not die design, increasingly decides inverter performance because parasitics limit how fast SiC can be switched.
Overview
A power module is a package that holds several power semiconductor dies, such as IGBTs, MOSFETs and diodes, on an electrically insulating substrate, wired together into a circuit such as a half-bridge and brought out to heavy-current terminals. It lets converters and inverters switch far more current than a discrete device in a plastic package can handle, while keeping the high-voltage parts isolated from the heat sink. Modules are central to motor drives, vehicle inverters and renewable energy converters.
How it works
Inside a typical module, the dies are soldered or sintered onto a metallised ceramic substrate: copper bonded to alumina, zirconia-toughened alumina, aluminium nitride, or silicon nitride joined by active metal brazing. The ceramic insulates the circuit electrically while conducting heat away, and the choice trades cost against thermal conductivity and mechanical robustness. The substrate usually sits on a copper baseplate or directly on a cooler. Bond wires or clips connect the top of each die to the copper tracks, and a housing filled with soft encapsulant protects the assembly. Modules often include temperature sensors, and some add gate drivers and protection, becoming intelligent power modules.
One module may hold a single switch, a half-bridge, a full three-phase bridge or a multilevel leg. Several dies are often placed in parallel to reach the rated current, and each terminal may use several contacts. Connections range from screw terminals to soldered or press-fit pins that need no solder on the board. Infineon's IGBT module range, for example, spans current ratings from 6 A to 3600 A and voltage classes from 600 V to 6.5 kV.
The hardest problems are thermal and mechanical. Repeated heating and cooling stresses the joints between materials that expand at different rates, so environmental and lifetime testing is central to qualification. Keeping parasitic inductance low and heat transfer high are further priorities, the latter especially for silicon carbide devices.
Examples
- A half-bridge IGBT module in an industrial motor drive, mounted on a heat sink with a thermal interface material.
- Infineon's HybridPACK Drive family of automotive IGBT and silicon carbide MOSFET modules for hybrid and electric vehicle inverters.
- Silicon nitride substrates made by active metal brazing for modules that need long lifetime and high power density.
- A wind turbine converter built from high-voltage IGBT modules rated in the kilovolt range.
Related terms
Part of the Power & Discretes glossary, with every term in the topic and the lifecycles, tools and standards that use them.
Where it appears on the Hub
Used on 16 pages of the Hub. In each group, the pages that mention it most come first.
Lifecycle stages and gates
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Last reviewed . Written by The Semiconductor Hub editorial team. The full glossary