An investigation of the drive circuit requirements for the powerinsulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)

The drive circuit requirements of the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) are explained with the aid of an analytical model. It is shown that nonquasi-static effects limit the influence of the drive circuit on the time rate-of-change of anode voltage. Model results are compared with measured turn-on and turn-off waveforms for different drive, load, and feedback circuits, and for different IGBT base lifetimes     

Silicon carbide PiN and merged PiN Schottky power diode models implemented in the Saber circuit simulator

Dynamic electrothermal circuit simulator models are developed for silicon carbide power diodes. The models accurately describe the temperature dependence of on-state characteristics and reverse-recovery switching waveforms. The models are verified for the temperature dependence of the on-state characteristics, and the di/dt, dv/dt, and temperature dependence of the reverse-recovery characteristics. The model results are presented for 1500 V SiC Merged PiN Schottky (MPS) diodes, 600 V Schottky diodes, and 5000 V SiC PiN diodes. The devices studied have current ratings from 0.25 A to 5 A and have different lifetimes resulting in different switching energy versus on-state voltage trade-offs. The devices are characterized using a previously reported test system specifically designed to emulate a wide range of application conditions by independently controlling the applied diode voltage, forward diode current, di/dt, and dv/dt at turn-off. A behavioral model of the test system is implemented to simulate and validate the models. The models are validated for a wide range of application conditions for which the diode could be used.     

A monolithic CMOS microhotplate-based gas sensor system

A monolithic CMOS microhotplate-based conductance-type gas sensor system is described. A bulk micromachining technique is used to create suspended microhotplate structures that serve as sensing film platforms. The thermal properties of the microhotplates include a 1-ms thermal time constant and a 10/spl deg/C/mW thermal efficiency. The polysilicon used for the microhotplate heater exhibits a temperature coefficient of resistance of 1.067/spl times/10/sup -3///spl deg/C. Tin(IV) oxide and titanium(IV) oxide (SnO/sub 2/,TiO/sub 2/) sensing films are grown over postpatterned gold sensing electrodes on the microhotplate using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD). An array of microhotplate gas sensors with different sensing film properties is fabricated by using a different temperature for each microhotplate during the LPCVD film growth process. Interface circuits are designed and implemented monolithically with the array of microhotplate gas sensors. Bipolar transistors are found to be a good choice for the heater drivers, and MOSFET switches are suitable for addressing the sensing films. An on-chip operational amplifier improves the signal-to-noise ratio and produces a robust output signal. Isothermal responses demonstrate the ability of the sensors to detect different gas molecules over a wide range of concentrations including detection below 100 nanomoles/mole.     

Web-based issue tracking for large software projects

Many problems are found and fixed during the development of a software system. The Project Issue Tracking System toolkit, a Web-based issue-management tool, can be used to organize issue reports during development and to communicate with different project teams around the world. The Project Issue Tracking System (PITS) is a tool that supports the IV&V effort for two major NASA projects: the Earth Observation System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) and the Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). The EOSDIS IV&V effort teams several companies and organizations at several sites with Intermetrics, Inc, serving as the lead contractor. We examine the PITS Web-based mechanisms for tracking issue reports     

A normative database of thumb circumduction in vivo: center of rotation and range of motion

This article reports a systematic research effort aimed at establishing a normative database of thumb circumduction range of motion (ROM) and related kinematic characteristics in vivo while examining the effects of anthropometry, gender, and direction of rotation. Twenty-eight (14 men, 14 women) anthropometrically diverse participants performed maximum voluntary thumb circumductions as the trajectories of the surface markers placed on their thumb landmarks were recorded by an optoelectronic motion capture system. A globographic representation method was employed to model the measured marker trajectories, determining the center of rotation and central reference axes for thumb circumduction. Thumb ROM was quantified using (a) the joint sinuses expressing the thumb orientation change with respect to the reference axes and (b) cone volumes circumscribed by the thumb at the distal phalangeal, interphalangeal, and metacarpophalangeal levels. Data analyses resulted in statistical summaries of the derived kinematic and ROM measures with significant effects identified and regression equations predicting the cone volumes. Potential applications of this research include ergonomic design of hand-operated controls or devices and evaluation of thumb impairments or disorders.     

IGBT model validation

Efforts to model the switching behavior of IGBTs have been greatly expanded. In many cases, circuit modeling has become an economic necessity because the cost of the components of a medium- to high-power circuit, and the load itself, is so high that all means available muse be used to lower the risk of system failure during both the prototyping phase of product development and production. As the physics that govern transistor behavior are quite complex, attempts at accurately predicting the details of transistor switching performance tax models to their extreme. Test procedures are needed to check the validity of predictions made by various models, and these procedures need to be applicable to commonly used circuits. It is particularly important that these test procedures are built around a test-bed that is well understood and well characterized so that the device model is given the correct information for the simulations. The details of a suitable test bed circuit that can be used for model-verification-related measurements on half bridge configured IGBTs are given. The NIST/IEEE Working Group on Model Validation has been established to address the need for testing the validity of various models as they relate to predicting the behavior of devices under realistic conditions. The work described in this article is performed, in part, to support the needs of the IGBT task of the Working Group     

SiC power diodes provide breakthrough performance for a wide rangeof applications

The electrical performance of silicon carbide (SiC) power diodes is evaluated and compared to that of commercially available silicon (Si) diodes in the voltage range from 600 V through 5000 V. The comparisons include the on-state characteristics, the reverse recovery characteristics, and power converter efficiency and electromagnetic interference (EMI). It is shown that a newly developed 1500-V SiC merged PiN Schottky (MPS) diode has significant performance advantages over Si diodes optimized for various voltages in the range of 600 V through 1500 V. It is also shown that a newly developed 5000 V SiC PiN diode has significant performance advantages over Si diodes optimized for various voltages in the range of 2000 V through 5000 V. In a test case power converter, replacing the best 600 V Si diodes available with the 1500 V SiC MPS diode results in an increase of power supply efficiency from 82% to 88% for switching at 186 kHz, and a reduction in EMI emissions     

Characteristics and utilization of a new class of low on-resistanceMOS-gated power device

A new class of MOS-gated power semiconductor devices Cool MOS (Cool MOS is a trademark of Infineon Technologies, Germany) has been introduced with a supreme conducting characteristic that overcomes the high on-state resistance limitations of high-voltage power MOSFETs. From the application point of view, a very frequently asked question immediately arises: does this device behave like a MOSFET or an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)? The goal of this paper is to compare and contrast the major similarities and differences between this device and the traditional MOSFET and IGBT. In this paper, the new device is fully characterized for its: (1) conduction characteristics; (2) switching voltage, current, and energy characteristics; (3) gate drive resistance effects; (4) output capacitance; and (5) reverse-bias safe operating areas. Experimental results indicate that the conduction characteristics of the new device are similar to the MOSFET but with much smaller on-resistance for the same chip and package size. The switching characteristics of the Cool MOS are also similar to the MOSFET in that they have fast switching speeds and do not have a current tail at turn-off. However, the effect of the gate drive resistance on the turn-off voltage rate of rise (dv/dt) is more like an IGBT. In other words, a very large gate drive resistance is required to have a significant change on dv/dt, resulting in a large turn-off delay. Overall, the device was found to behave more like a power MOSFET than like an IGBT     

A multifactor exploration of the photobleaching of Suwannee River dissolved organic matter across the freshwater/saltwater interface

A four factor central composite experimental design was applied to explore the photobleaching of Suwannee River dissolved organic matter (SRDOM) at 350 nm as a function of the tetravariate system of [SRDOM], total [Fe(III)], [NO3-], and salinity. The ranges of each factor were setto cover their likely concentrations atthe freshwater/ saltwater interface, to encompass the possible conditions encountered during the transition from the terrestrial to marine environment. Each experiment was carried out using a minimum of 25 different initial conditions, with 3-6 replicates/condition. The resulting data set mapped out the effects of multiple photoactive components on the rate of photobleaching. Under the conditions tested (nominally total [Fe(III)] 0.00-4.00 microM; [NO3-] 0.00-60.00 microM; SRDOM 0.00-30.00 mg/L; salinity 0.00-35.00 ppt, polychromatic illumination, pH 8.2) all samples photobleached at all wavelengths measured, and the absorption at 350 nm bleached the most rapidly. The most important factor for predicting the rate of photobleaching at 350 nm was the initial loading of SRDOM; the effect of all other factors on photobleaching was not significant at the 95% level of confidence. Varied salinity, Fe(III), or added D2O had no effect on the rate of photobleaching, indicating that hydroxyl radical, singlet oxygen, and superoxide did not contribute significantly to the loss of the chromophore at 350 nm. The addition of hydroquinone or thiosulfate inhibited photobleaching, suggesting photobleaching may depend on a weaker oxidant such as the excited-state acceptors (derived from SRDOM directly) produced during photoinitiated charge-transfer processes. The advantages of multifactor experimental techniques for exploring SRDOM photochemistry are discussed.     

Insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modeling using IG-SPICE

A physics-based model for the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is implemented into the widely available circuit simulation package IG-SPICE. Based on analytical equations describing the semiconductor-physics, the model accurately describes the nonlinear junction capacitances, moving boundaries, recombination, and carrier scattering, and effectively predicts the device conductivity modulation. In this paper, the procedure used to incorporate the model into IG-SPICE and various methods necessary to ensure convergence are described. The effectiveness of the SPICE-based IGBT model is demonstrated by investigating the static and dynamic current sharing of paralleled IGBTs with different device model parameters. The simulation results are verified by comparison with experimental results