Device for measuring a temperature of a power semiconductor
AssigneesECPE Engineering Center for Power Electronics GmbH, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
InventorsEckart HOENE, Thomas BAUMANN, Oleg ZEITER
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Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention provide a device for measuring a temperature of a power semiconductor, having means for applying an alternating voltage to the power semiconductor, and means for measuring an impedance between the control terminal of the power semiconductor and the channel terminal of the power semiconductor, the impedance being dependent on a temperature-dependent control resistor integrated in the power semiconductor.
Claims15
A device for measuring a temperature of a power semiconductor, comprising:
- an applier for applying an alternating voltage to the power semiconductor;
- and
- a measurer for measuring an impedance between the control terminal of the power semiconductor and the channel terminal of the power semiconductor, the impedance being dependent on a temperature-dependent control resistor integrated in the power semiconductor;
- wherein the applier for applying the alternating voltage is configured to select a frequency of the alternating voltage such that capacitive and/or inductive portions of the measurement are reduced, and such that the frequency is in a range of a resonant frequency defined by the capacitive and/or inductive portions.
A method of measuring a temperature of a power semiconductor, comprising:
- applying an alternating voltage to the power semiconductor;
- and
- measuring an impedance between the control terminal of the power semiconductor and the channel terminal of the power semiconductor, the impedance being dependent on a temperature-dependent control resistor integrated in the power semiconductor;
- wherein, when measuring the impedance, a frequency of the alternating voltage is selected such that capacitive and/or inductive portions of the measurement are reduced, and such that the frequency is in a range of a resonant frequency which is defined by the capacitive and/or inductive portions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.