IGBT (Ideal, Switching)

Ideal insulated-gate bipolar transistor for switching applications

Libraries:
Simscape / Electrical / Semiconductors & Converters

Description

The IGBT (Ideal, Switching) block models an ideal insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) for switching applications. The switching characteristic of an IGBT is such that if the gate-emitter voltage exceeds the specified threshold voltage, V_th, the IGBT is in the on state. Otherwise, the device is in the off state. This figure shows a typical i-v characteristic:

To define the I-V characteristic of the IGBT, set the On-state behaviour and switching losses parameter to either Specify constant values or Tabulate with temperature and current. The Tabulate with temperature and current option is available only if you expose the thermal port of the block.

In the on state, the collector-emitter path behaves like a linear diode with forward-voltage drop, V_f, and on-resistance, R_on. However, if you expose the thermal port of the block and parameterize the device using tabulated I-V data, the tabulated resistance is a function of the temperature and current.

In the off state, the collector-emitter path behaves like a linear resistor with a low off-state conductance value, G_off.

The defining Simscape™ equations for the block are:

     if (v>Vf)&&(G>Vth)         
        i == (v - Vf*(1-Ron*Goff))/Ron;      
     else
        i == v*Goff;
     end

where:

v is the collector-emitter voltage.
Vf is the forward voltage.
G is the gate-emitter voltage.
Vth is the threshold voltage.
i is the collector-emitter current.
Ron is the on-state resistance.
Goff is the off-state conductance.

Integral Protection Diode Option

Using the Integral Diode parameters, you can include an integral emitter-collector diode. An integral diode protects the semiconductor device by providing a conduction path for reverse current. An inductive load can produce a high reverse-voltage spike when the semiconductor device suddenly switches off the voltage supply to the load.

Set the Integral protection diode parameter based on your goal.

Goal	Value to Select	Block Behavior
Prioritize simulation speed.	`Diode with no dynamics`	The block includes an integral copy of the Diode block. To parameterize the internal Diode block, use the Protection parameters.
Precisely specify reverse-mode charge dynamics.	`Diode with charge dynamics`	The block includes an integral copy of the dynamic model of the Diode block. To parameterize the internal Diode block, use the Protection parameters.

Model Gate Port and Thermal Effects

You can choose between physical or electrical ports to control the gate terminal and expose the thermal port to model the heat that switching events and conduction losses generate. To choose the gate control port, set the Gate control port parameter to PS or Electrical. To expose the thermal port, set the Modeling option parameter to either No thermal port or Show thermal port.

For more information about using thermal ports, see Simulating Thermal Effects in Semiconductors.

Thermal Losses

The figure shows an idealized representation of the output voltage, V_out, and the output current, I_out, of the semiconductor device. The interval shown includes the entire n^th switching cycle, during which the block turns off and then on.

Switching losses are one of the main sources of thermal loss in semiconductors. During each on-off switching transition, the IGBT parasitics store and then dissipate energy.

Switching losses depend on the off-state voltage and the on-state current. When a switching device is turned on, the power losses depend on the initial off-state voltage across the device and the final on-state current once the device is fully in its on state. Similarly, when a switching device is turned off, the power losses depend on the initial on-state current through the device and the final off-state voltage once the device is fully in its off state.

In this block, switching losses are applied by stepping up the junction temperature with a value equal to the switching loss divided by the total thermal mass at the junction. The Switch-on loss, Eon(Tj,Ice) and Switch-on loss, Eoff(Tj,Ice) parameter values set the sizes of the switching losses and they are either fixed or dependent on junction temperature and drain-source current. In both cases, losses are scaled by the off-state voltage prior to the latest device turn-on event.

Note

As the final current after a switching event is not known during the simulation, the block records the on-state current at the point that the device is commanded off. Similarly, the block records the off-state voltage at the point that the device is commanded on. For this reason, the simlog does not report the switching losses to the thermal network until one switching cycle later.

For all ideal switching devices, the switching losses are reported in the simlog as lastTurnOffLoss and lastTurnOnLoss and recorded as a pulse with amplitude equal to the energy loss. If you use a script to sum the total losses over a defined simulation period, you must sum the pulse values at each pulse rising edge. Alternatively, you can use the ee_getPowerLossSummary and ee_getPowerLossTimeSeries functions to extract conduction and switching losses from logged data.

Note that the power_dissipated variable in the simlog does not include switching losses as they are modeled as instantaneous events. The power_dissipated variable therefore just reports instantaneous on-state losses.

Reverse recovery loss is one of the main sources of thermal loss in diodes. The diode dissipates energy every time it turns off, from its conducting state to the open-circuit state.

In this block, reverse recovery losses are applied by stepping up the junction temperature with a value equal to the reverse recovery loss divided by the total thermal mass at the junction.

If you set the Reverse recovery loss model parameter to Tabulated loss, the value of the Reverse recovery loss table, Erec(Tj, If) parameter specifies the dissipated energy in function of the junction temperature and the forward current just before the switching event. The off-state voltage linearly scales the losses prior to the latest device turn-off event. The table uses delayed values for current and voltage. To ensure the value used in the lookup table is close enough to the instantaneous value, set the Delay for voltage and current tabulation parameter to a value that is lower than the fastest switching period.

If you set the Reverse recovery loss model parameter to Fixed loss, the value of the Reverse recovery loss parameter specifies the dissipated energy in each turn-off event, regardless of the state of the diode before or after the switching event.

Note

The lastReverseRecoveryLoss variable in the simlog includes the reverse recovery losses as a pulse with amplitude equal to the energy loss. If you use a script to sum the total losses over a defined simulation period, you must sum the pulse values at each pulse rising edge. Alternatively, you can use the ee_getPowerLossSummary and ee_getPowerLossTimeSeries functions to extract conduction and switching losses from logged data.

Note that the power_dissipated variable in the simlog does not include switching losses as they are modeled as instantaneous events. The power_dissipated variable reports instantaneous on-state losses.

Variables

To set the priority and initial target values for the block variables prior to simulation, use the Initial Targets section in the block dialog box or Property Inspector. For more information, see Set Priority and Initial Target for Block Variables.

Nominal values provide a way to specify the expected magnitude of a variable in a model. Using system scaling based on nominal values increases the simulation robustness. Nominal values can come from different sources, one of which is the Nominal Values section in the block dialog box or Property Inspector. For more information, see System Scaling by Nominal Values.

Examples

Quantifying IGBT Thermal Losses

The generation of a temperature profile based on switching and conduction losses in an insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT). There are two buck converters. For one converter, the IGBT attaches to a Foster thermal model. For the other converter, the IGBT attaches to a Cauer thermal model. The parameters for the thermal models are tuned to give roughly equivalent results. At a simulation time of 50ms, the driving frequency changes from 40kHz to 20kHz, which increases the conduction losses and decreases the switching losses. The change in the losses results in a corresponding change in the temperature of the IGBT.

Open Model

Import IGBT Parameters from Hitachi

Import parameters from a Hitachi IGBT module and save them in an IGBT(Ideal, Switching) block. The Hitachi IGBT parameters are stored in an XML file in the hitachi format.

Open Model

Fault Detection of Electric Vehicle Charger

Analyses the fault of an electric vehicle (EV) charger using Simscape Electrical™ to model the grid, the converter, and its control unit. The reliability of these chargers is an important factor in their adoption. In this example, you use measurements from the grid and the DC side of the converter to detect a gate driver fault in the converter. To analyze and detect a fault, first you generate synthetic data for different conditions with and without faults. Then you use this data to train a classification algorithm using the Classification Learner App. Finally, you use the trained model to identify or detect faults in any phase and to generate the code for deployment on hardware. You can extend this model for other system level variations or noises by having a much larger and comprehensive training dataset.

Open Live Script

Optimize an Inverter Liquid Cooling System

In this example you analyze the performance of a liquid cooling system for a three-phase inverter. You run detailed and reduced models (ROM) to find the steady-state temperatures and losses. You compute the optimal size of the heatsink that maximizes the inverter efficiency and minimizes lifetime cost.

Open Live Script

Ports

The figure shows the block port names.

Conserving

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G — Gate terminal
electrical

Port associated with the gate terminal. You can set the port to either a physical signal or electrical port

C — Collector terminal
electrical

Electrical conserving port associated with the collector terminal

E — Emitter terminal
electrical

Electrical conserving port associated with the emitter terminal

H — Thermal port
thermal

Thermal conserving port.

Dependencies

To enable this port, set Modeling option to Show thermal port.

Parameters

expand all

Modeling option — Thermal port visibility
`No thermal port` (default) | `Show thermal port`

Whether to enable the thermal port.

Main

This table shows how the visibility of Main parameters depends on how you configure the Modeling option and On-state behavior and switching losses parameters. To learn how to read this table, see Parameter Dependencies.

Main Parameter Dependencies

Parameters and Options
Modeling option
`No thermal port`	`Show thermal port`
Gate-control port	Gate-control port
Forward voltage, Vf	Threshold voltage, Vth
On-state resistance	On-state behaviour and switching losses
On-state resistance	`Specify constant values`	`Tabulate with temperature and current`
Off-state conductance	Forward voltage, Vf	On-state voltage, Vds(Tj,Ice)
Threshold voltage, Vth	On-state resistance	Temperature vector, Tj
	Off-state conductance	Collector-emitter current vector, Ice
	Off-state conductance	Off-state conductance

Gate-control port — Whether to specify physical or electrical control port
`PS` (default) | `Electrical`

Whether to specify physical or electrical control port for the switch gate.

On-state behaviour and switching losses — On-state current for switching loss data
`Specify constant values` (default) | `Tabulate with temperature and current`

Select a parameterization method. The option that you select determines which other parameters are enabled. Options are:

Specify constant values — Use scalar values to specify the output current, switch-on loss, and switch-off loss data. This is the default parameterization method.
Tabulate with temperature and current — Use vectors to specify the output current, switch-on loss, switch-off loss, and temperature data.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Forward voltage, Vf — Forward voltage
`0.8` `V` (default)

Minimum voltage required across the collector and emitter block ports for the gradient of the diode I-V characteristic to be 1/R_on, where R_on is the value of On-state resistance.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

On-state resistance — On-state collector-emitter resistance
`0.001` `Ohm` (default)

Collector-emitter resistance when the device is on.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Off-state conductance — Off-state collector-emitter conductance
`1e-5` `1/Ohm` (default)

Collector-emitter conductance when the device is off. The value must be less than 1/R, where R is the value of On-state resistance.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Threshold voltage, Vth — Threshold voltage
`6` `V` (default)

Gate-emitter voltage at which the device turns on.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

On-state voltage, Vds(Tj,Ice) — On-state voltage
`[0, .1, .6, .8, 1, 1.3, 1.6, 2, 2.4; 0, .1, .7, 1, 1.2, 1.5, 1.9, 2.4, 2.8]` `V` (default)

Voltage drop across the device while it is in a triggered conductive state. This parameter is defined as a function of temperature and final on-state output current. Specify this parameter using a vector quantity.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Temperature vector, Tj — Temperature vector
`[298.15, 398.15]` `K` (default)

Temperature values at which the on-state voltage is specified. Specify this parameter using a vector quantity.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Collector-emitter current vector, Ice — Collector-emitter current vector
`[0, .1, 1, 5, 10, 20, 40, 70, 100]` `A` (default)

Collector-emitter currents for the on-state voltage is defined. The first element must be zero. Specify this parameter using a vector quantity.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Switching Losses

To enable these parameters, set Modeling option to Show thermal port.

Temperature vector for switching losses, Tj — Temperature vector for switching losses
`[298.15, 398.15]` `K` (default)

Temperature values at which the switch-on loss and switch-off loss are specified. Specify this parameter using a vector quantity.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set On-state behavior and switching losses to Tabulate with temperature and current.

Collector-emitter current vector for switching losses, Ice — Collector-emitter current vector for switching losses
`[0, .1, 1, 5, 10, 20, 40, 70, 100]` `A` (default)

Collector-emitter currents for which the switch-on loss and switch-off-loss are defined. The first element must be zero. Specify this parameter using a vector quantity.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set On-state behavior and switching losses to Tabulate with temperature and current.

Switch-on loss — Switch-on loss
`22.86e-3` `J` (default)

Energy dissipated during a single switch-on event. This parameter is defined as a function of temperature and final on-state output current. Specify this parameter using a scalar quantity.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set On-state behavior and switching losses to Specify constant values.

Switch-off loss — Switch-off loss
`17.14e-3` `J` (default)

Energy dissipated during a single switch-off event. This parameter is defined as a function of temperature and final on-state output current. Specify this parameter using a scalar quantity.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set On-state behavior and switching losses to Specify constant values.

Off-state voltage for switching loss data — Off-state voltage for losses data
`600` `V` (default) | `300` `V`

The output voltage of the device during the off state. This is the blocking voltage at which the switch-on loss and switch-off loss data are defined.

On-state current for switching loss data — Output current
`600` `A` (default)

Output currents for which the switch-on loss, switch-off loss, and on-state voltage are defined. The first element must be zero. Specify this parameter using a scalar quantity.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set On-state behavior and switching losses to Specify constant values.

Switch-on loss, Eon(Tj,Ice) — Switch-on loss
`[0, .0024, .024, .12, .2, .48, 1.04, 2.16, 3.24; 0, .003, .03, .15, .25, .6, 1.3, 2.7, 4.05] * 1e-3` `J` (default)

Energy dissipated during a single switch on event. This parameter is defined as a function of temperature and final on-state output current. Specify this parameter using a vector quantity.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set On-state behavior and switching losses to Tabulate with temperature and current.

Switch-off loss, Eoff(Tj,Ice) — Switch-off loss
`[0, .0007, .0066, .033, .066, .17, .33, .83, 1.5; 0, .001, .01, .05, .1, .25, .5, 1.2, 2.2] * 1e-3` `J` (default)

Energy dissipated during a single switch-off event. This parameter is defined as a function of temperature and final on-state output current. Specify this parameter using a vector quantity.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set On-state behavior and switching losses to Tabulate with temperature and current.

Integral Diode

Integral protection diode — Integral protection diode
`None` (default) | `Protection diode with no dynamics` | `Protection diode with charge dynamics`

Block integral protection diode.

The diodes you can select are:

None
Protection diode with no dynamics
Protection diode with charge dynamics

Diode model — Diode model
`Piecewise Linear` (default) | `Tabulated I-V curve`

Select one of these diode models:

Piecewise Linear — Use a piecewise linear model for the diode, as described in Piecewise Linear Diode. This is the default method.
Tabulated I-V curve — Use tabulated forward bias I-V data plus fixed reverse bias off conductance.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the thermal port is exposed and the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with no dynamics or Protection diode with charge dynamics.

Table type — Tabulated function
`Table in If(Tj,Vf) form` (default) | `Table in Vf(Tj,If) form`

Whether to tabulate the current as a function of temperature and voltage or the voltage as a function of temperature and current.

Dependencies

Forward voltage — Forward voltage
`0.8` `V` (default)

Minimum voltage required across the + and - block ports for the gradient of the diode I-V characteristic to be 1/R_on, where R_on is the value of On resistance.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter:

If the thermal port is hidden, set Integral protection diode to Diode with no dynamics or Diode with charge dynamics.
If the thermal port is exposed, set Integral protection diode to Diode with no dynamics or Diode with charge dynamics and Diode model to Piecewise linear.

On resistance — On resistance
`0.001` `Ohm` (default)

Rate of change of voltage versus current above the Forward voltage.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter:

If the thermal port is hidden, set Integral protection diode to Diode with no dynamics or Diode with charge dynamics.
If the thermal port is exposed, set Integral protection diode to Diode with no dynamics or Diode with charge dynamics and Diode model to Piecewise linear.

Forward currents, If(Tj,Vf) — Vector of forward currents
`[.07, .12, .19, 1.75, 4.24, 7.32, 11.2; .16, .3, .72, 2.14, 4.02, 6.35, 9.12]` `A` (default) | nonnegative vector

Forward currents. This parameter must be a vector of at least three nonnegative elements.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, expose the thermal port and set Diode model to Tabulated I-V curve and Table type to Table in If(Tj,Vf) form.

Junction temperatures, Tj — Vector of junction temperatures
`[25, 125]` `degC` (default)

Vector of junction temperatures. This parameter must be a vector of at least two elements.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, expose the thermal port and set Diode model to Tabulated I-V curve.

Forward voltages, Vf — Vector of forward voltages
`[.5, .7, .9, 1.3, 1.7, 2.1, 2.5]` `V` (default)

Vector of forward voltages. This parameter must be a vector of at least three nonnegative values.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, expose the thermal port and set Diode model to Tabulated I-V curve and Table type to Table in If(Tj,Vf) form.

Forward voltages, Vf(Tj,If) — Vector of forward voltages
`[.9, 1.15, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, 2.17, 2.6, 2.85; .58, .68, .75, 1.1, 1.38, 1.77, 2.27, 2.7]` `V` (default) | nonnegative vector

Forward voltages. This parameter must be a vector of at least three nonnegative elements.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, expose the thermal port and set Diode model to Tabulated I-V curve and Table type to Table in Vf(Tj,If) form.

Forward currents, If — Vector of forward currents
`[.1, .2, .5, 1, 2, 4, 7, 10]` `A` (default)

Vector of forward currents. This parameter must be a vector of at least three nonnegative values.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, expose the thermal port and set Diode model to Tabulated I-V curve and Table type to Table in Vf(Tj,If) form.

Off conductance — Off conductance
`1e-5` `1/Ohm` (default)

Conductance of the reverse-biased diode.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Diode with no dynamics or Diode with charge dynamics.

Reverse recovery loss model — Model for reverse recovery loss
`Fixed loss` (default) | `Tabulated loss`

Since R2023a

Whether to model fixed or tabulated reverse recovery losses.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Modeling option parameter to Show thermal port and set the Integral protection diode parameter to Diode with no dynamics.

Reverse recovery loss — Reverse recovery loss
`0` `J` (default) | positive scalar

Since R2023a

Dissipated energy in each turn-off event, regardless of the state of the diode before or after the switching event.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Reverse recovery loss model parameter to Fixed loss.

Reverse recovery loss table, Erect(Tj), If — Reverse recovery loss
`zeros(2,3)` `J` (default)

Since R2023a

Dissipated energy in function of the forward current If just before the switching event, and final off-state voltage once the diode is in off state.