Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

Takeshi Ohi

Toshiyuki Kikunaga

Hirotaka Muto

Tatsuya Okuda

Yasushi Nakayama

Osamu Usui

Takumi Kikuchi

Takeshi Tanaka

Toru Kimura

Dai Nakajima

Hirofumi Fujioka

Naoki Yoshimatsu

Takeshi Horiguchi

Takanobu Yoshida

Shinichi Kinouchi

Takao Mitsuhashi

Masakazu Fukada

Naoshi Yamada

Ryuichi Hashido

Takashi Inaguchi

Toshinori Yamane

Yuuji Kuramoto

Majumdar Gourab

Shin-ichi Kinouchi

Katsuhiko Fukuhara

Yoshitsugu Inaba

A semiconductor device accurately monitoring temperature of a semiconductor chip even in a noisy environment, while not requiring a highly accurate detection circuit. A PTC element is bonded onto an IGBT chip. Then, a constant current flows from a constant current source through the PTC element, and an output voltage of the PTC element is detected by a voltage monitor. When output voltage increases, a voltage applied to a gate electrode by a detection circuit is decreased. Since the PTC element is directly arranged on the IGBT chip, the temperature of the IGBT chip can be monitored with high accuracy. Further, since the change in output voltage of the PTC element per 1&#xb0; C. is large, a highly accurate detection circuit is not necessary, thereby allowing accurate monitoring of the temperature of the IGBT chip even in a noisy environment.

Semiconductor device

A drive circuit for a power semiconductor device includes: a sampling signal generating circuit for detecting that an input control signal instructs OFF and outputting a sampling signal at the time instant of start of a Miller period of time of an IGBT; a gate voltage detecting circuit for detecting a Miller voltage of the IGBT at the timing when the sampling signal is inputted and outputting, when the Miller voltage is equal to or larger than a threshold, an over-current detection signal; and a gate voltage controlling circuit for controlling, in response to the over-current detection signal, a gate voltage of the IGBT in such a way that the IGBT is turned OFF at slower speed than in the normal state. Thus, it is possible to suppress a surge voltage which is generated when the IGBT is turned OFF during the flow of an over-current.

Drive circuit for a power semiconductor device

A drive circuit includes a gate voltage detector that detects a gate-emitter voltage Vge that appears between the gate and emitter of a power semiconductor device throughout a detection time period during which a sampler allows the process of detecting the gate-emitter voltage Vge, and that recognizes the occurrence of an abnormality in the power semiconductor device when the gate-emitter voltage Vge exceeds a reference value. Therefore, the drive circuit can protect the power semiconductor device with higher reliability by promptly detecting the occurrence of a short circuit even when the power semiconductor device is resistant to high voltages.

Drive circuit for driving power semiconductor device

In an IGBT module which contains an IGBT device and a diode device connected to each other and accommodated in a case and which radiates heat generated in operation through a radiation board, an object is to reduce the area of the module in the lateral direction to achieve size reduction. The collector electrode surface of an IGBT device is provided on a radiation board, and an element connecting conductor is bonded with conductive resin on the emitter electrode surface. The anode electrode surface of a diode device is bonded on it with the conductive resin. The IGBT device and the diode device are thus stacked and connected in the vertical direction.

Semiconductor module

P-electrode and N-electrode of a semiconductor device and capacitors in a plate-like shape or a block-like shape respectively connected to U-phase V-phase and W-phase having a switching element and a diode are built in a semiconductor device and a single or a plurality of capacitors are respectively connected to P-electrodes and N-electrodes in each of the phases, whereby the smoothing capacitors are built in the semiconductor device to reduce wiring inductances, the capacitors are miniaturized, and an entire electric power converting device, i.e. inverter, is miniaturized.

Semiconductor device having built-in capacitors

A current detecting sensor includes parallel flat plates opposed in a substantially U-shape in cross-section. Since the flat plates are opposed to each other, the current detecting sensor has reduced inductance, significantly decreasing frequency dependency of outputs from detection terminals.

Power semiconductor module

An object is to obtain long-term reliability of an electric connection in a power semiconductor module. In a power semiconductor module, the main circuit interconnection directly connected to a power semiconductor chip (,) is formed of a busbar (,) and the power semiconductor chip (,) and the busbar electrode (,) of the busbar (,) are electrically connected through a conductive resin (,). A member (,) having lower thermal expansion than the busbar electrode (,) is joined to the busbar electrode (,) in the part adjacent to said power semiconductor chip (,).

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Takeshi Ohi