IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2014 - 27
Power
Electronic Module
by Krishna Shenai
Enabling the
21st-century
energy
economy
T
o enable the rapidly emerging and imminent energy economy, high-voltage (HV) and high-current robust power electronic modules (PEMs) are
needed at low cost. PEMs typically consist of a number of semiconductor
power switches and driver chips; intelligent power modules often contain
sensing and protection circuitry. In the entire supply chain of power electronics systems-from materials to end-user applications, including the original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs)-the PEM is the key building block, as it forms the
heart of a power electronic system. The performance, cost, and durability of the entire
power electronic system critically hinge on those of the PEM. In addition, major business opportunities in power electronics are often enabled by the advances in power
semiconductor devices. One such opportunity currently available to the power electronics community has been created by the advances in wide-bandgap (WBG) power
switching devices, which were first introduced by Shenai et al. in the 1980s [1].
One of the key challenges in the development of high-power PEMs has always been
to obtain a sufficiently large safe operating area (SOA) as required by many power
electronic systems, especially when operating under hard-switching conditions. The
demand from high-reliability OEM applications, such as the computer power supplies
in high-end servers, telecom power supplies, and traction inverters, may place stringent lifetime requirements on the PEM, based on the considerations that originate
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPEL.2014.2330459
Date of publication: 5 September 2014
BACKGROUND IMAGE: ©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/HONG LI
IMAGE COURTESY OF
DR. KEVORK HADDAD, SEMIKRON AMERICA.
2329-9207/14©2014IEEE
September 2014
IEEE POWER ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE
27
http://www.ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/HONG
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2014
IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2014 - Cover1
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IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2014 - 1
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