Low EMI noise Techniques of the 6th Generation IGBT module

Seiki Igarashi, Hirofumi Takubo, Yasuyuki Kobayashi, Masahito Otsuki and Tadashi Miyasaka
Fuji Electric Device Technology Co., Ltd.,
4-18-1 Tsukama, Matsumoto, Nagano
390-0821, Japan
Tel.: +81 / (263) -28-8794
Fax: +81 / (263) –26-6945
E-Mail: igarashi-seiki@fujielectric.co.jp

Keywords
«IGBT», «EMC/EMI», «Packaging», «Device application», «Power semiconductor device»

Abstract
This paper describes the mechanism of radiation EMI noise coming from power electronics and
introduces the applied technology of Fuji 6th generation IGBT modules, which have drastically
improved the trade-off of radiation EMI noise and power dissipation loss. The application of new
packaging technology has achieved a reduction in radiation noise of about -5dB by reducing the
radiation noise loop area. New trench gate IGBTs have achieved a reduction in the radiation noise
without significantly increasing switching losses. As a result, the total radiation noise is reduced by -
15 dB with the same dissipation losses compared to the conventional IGBT

Introduction
Electric motor drives have evolved rapidly in recent years with advances in power electronics
such as high speed switching devices, like IGBTs. These new IGBT modules exhibit superior
electrical characteristics, such as low on-state voltage drop, and fast switching with high withstand
capability for device destructive failure. A great improvement in IGBT properties has been achieved
by the combination of the Field-Stop (FS) IGBT concepts [1] and the trench-gate structure [2]. In
order to reduce the switching losses of IGBT modules, di/dt and/or dv/dt values have been increased to
higher levels, and the corresponding EMI noise from the module has also increased. Therefore,
various kinds of regulations related with EMI, EMS and EMC have been investigated all over the
world.
This paper describes the mechanism of radiation EMI noise coming from power electronics and
introduces the applied technology of Fuji 6th generation IGBT modules, which are designed to
drastically improve the trade-off between radiated EMI noise and power dissipation loss. New
packaging technology has achieved a reduction in the radiation noise about -5dB by reducing the
radiation loop area, while new trench gate IGBTs have achieved a reduction in the radiation noise
without a significant increase of switching losses. As a result, overall radiation noise is reduced by -
15 dB with the same dissipation losses compared to the conventional IGBT.

Generation mechanism of radiation noise

Fig. 1 shows a typical AC motor drive system. This AC motor drive system consists of a diode
rectifier and an IGBT inverter. The IGBT module and rectifier diode module are mounted on a
cooling fin. The cooling fin is commonly grounded for safety reasons and the electric circuit elements
in the module such as IGBT chips are electrically isolated from the fin with a high thermal
conductivity insulating substrate. Snubber capacitors are also generally connected across the inverter
to suppress spike voltages. It is the stray inductances and stray capacitances in the circuit elements of
the motor drive have the greatest impact on radiated noise with frequencies of 30MHz or more.
Fig. 2 shows the equivalent circuit of an inverter system in the frequency range from 30kHz –
1GHz. There is 10nH – 100nH of stray inductance in the wiring around IGBT module (L1, L2, L3),
100pF- 1000pF of stray capacitance in the insulation substrate (C2, C3) and junction capacitance of
IGBT chips (C4, C5).
High frequency radiation noise is caused by inverter switching, when currents are induced in the
high frequency resonant stray loops. The resonant currents flowing through these loops during IGBT
switching generates peaks of radiation noise [3].
Table l outlines the stray capacitances and stray inductances in main component parts of the drive.

Rectifier Inverter

Motor

Ｍ Load

Isolation board

Cooling fin
Fig. 1: Circuit configuration of the motor drive system
L1 L2 P
Rectifier Inverter

Loop1 L3 C5

Loop4

C1 C4 C6

C2 N C3
L5 Loop3
L4
Loop2

Cooling fin

Fig. 2: Equivalent circuit of the motor drive system with stray components

Table 1: Stray capacitances and stray inductances in main component parts of a drive
15kW Motor system
Stray capacitance Stray inductance
Symbol Remark
(pF) (nH)
Module PN terminal L2 - 30
IGBT chip C4,C5 100 - 200 - It depends on the applying voltage
Snuber capacitor L3 - 30
Internal isolation board C3 750 -
Between internal electrode and
Electrolytic capacitor C2 100 -
installed metal band
Reactor 140 -
Varistor C1 100 - 200 - It depends on the applying voltage
Motor 13000 -
Cable C6 200 200 per 1m
Bus bar L1 - 100 per 0.1m
 Fig. 4 shows resonant frequency of loop 1-4.
The radiation noise generated by the resonant loop current and is shown by Equation (1).

1.32 × 10 −14
Ef = ⋅ S ⋅ I f ⋅ f 2 ⋅ sin θ (1)
r
S: loop area, If: loop current, r: distance from loop to noise measurement point,
θ: angle with loop side, f: frequency

From Equation (1), it can be seen that radiation noise grows by the second power of the frequency
Table 2 shows the resonance frequency of each loop 1-4 of Fig 2. The radiation noise generated
from loop1 and loop2 is not high because their resonant frequency is low (1MHz-8MHz). The greatest
radiation noise is generated by loop4 (more than 30MHz resonant frequency) and loop3 (more than
10MHz resonant frequency). The resonant frequency of loop4 is greater than 30MHz and therefore
generates the largest high frequency radiation noise. Our challenge was to apply noise reduction
technology to the radiation noise generated by loop 4.

Table 2: Resonant frequency of each loop in inverter system

Loop Frequency Normal/Common Route

1 1　-　4　MHｚ Common Motor capacitance - Wiring inductance
2 5　-　8　MHｚ Common DBC capacitance - Wiring inductance
3 10　-　20　MHｚ Common DBC capacitance - Wiring inductance
4 30　-　40　MHｚ Normal IGBT module - Snubber capacitor

Low radiation noise Techniques

Reduction of loop area
To reduce radiation noise from equation (1) it can be seen that it is effective to decrease the
current If or to decrease the Loop area. We approached the problem by making improvements in the
package structure and the switching characteristics of the IGBTs.
First, we set out to design a new package with smallest loop 4 area. Loop 4 area can be reduced
by close P and N lines on the insulation substrate patterns. The comparison of internal layouts between
the conventional package and the new package is shown in Fig. 4. Table.3 shows the measurement
results of loop area, circuit impedance and noise. Inductance values do not change (60nH and 55nH),
but by reducing the Loop4 area by 59% (to 336mm2 from 571mm2) a corresponding reduction in
radiation noise of slightly greater than the value predicted by equation (1) of -5dB(to 50dB µV/m from
55dB µV/m) was obtained.
Fig. 5 shows the experimental results of the radiation noise. The measurement system used was a
15kW induction motor in an anechoic chamber (3m). A series regulator for the control power supply
was used to eliminate the introduction of radiation noise from the control power supply. The radiation
noise was generated only by the IGBT inverter. Through these experiments is was clear that we would
be able to decrease the radiation noise by decreasing the loop4 area. We applied this technology to the
Fuji 6th generation IGBT modules, and became line up 1200V/75A~150A PIM [6].
 Table 3: Characteristics of conventional package and new package
Experimental result
Reduction ratio
Inductance Loop 4 area Peak of Reduction
by expession 1
(nH) (mm2) radiation ratio
(dB)
noise (dB)
Conventional
60 571 - 55 -
package
New Package 55 336 -4.6 50 -5

P-line P-line

P P
N N

N-line
N-line
Conventional package Area of loop 4 New package

Fig. 4: Comparison of internal layout

60 1200V/75A IGBT-PIM
Radiation noise [dBuV/m]

- 5dB
50 Conventional package
40

30

20
New package
10

0
30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110

Frequency [MHz]

Motor:15kW no-load, fc=4kHz

Fig. 5: Comparison of radiation noise

Reduction of loop current If

Our second challenge was to reduce the loop current If. We approached this by problem by
applying technologies that allowed for the reduction dv/dt without significantly enlarging the
switching losses. The voltage of the high frequency region decreases by reduction of dv/dt shown in
Fig.6. As the result of reducing loop current If, the high frequency region decreases.
 V
-20dB/dec
-40 dB/dec

Reduce
T
2 t voltage of high
frequency region
T
tｒ1 tｒ2 f
2 1
f 1＝ f 21＝
πT πtr1
1
f 22＝
π tr2

Fig. 6: IGBT switching waveform and voltage spectrum

Trench-gate IGBTs have made dramatic improvements in the trade-off relationship between the
on-state voltage drop and the turn-off loss. However, it has a large gate-collector (Miller) capacitance
CGC , which causes a long voltage-tail during the turn-on period according to Equation (2) [4], and as a
result, its turn-on power dissipation increases remarkably.

 1−α 
VGA − VTH + IL 
dVCE  g MOS 
= (2)
dt RG ⋅ CGC

where VGA, RG and IL are the applied gate voltage, the gate resistance and the load current,
respectively.
Fig. 7 shows the turn-on waveforms of the conventional trench gate 1200V IGBT. It is apparent that
the long voltage-tail region extends with increasing values of RG.

VCE
VCE,VAK (V)

Small Rg
Large Rg
VAK
VGE
JC (A/cm2)
VGE (V)

JC

Uncontrolled period t (ns)

VGE=+15/-15V, Vcc=600V, Tj=125℃

Fig.7: Turn on waveforms of conventional trench gate IGBT

The larger Miller capacitance causes not only higher turn-on loss but also smaller turn-on dIC/dt
controllability by RG shown in Fig. 8. When the VGE exceeds VGE(th), the IGBT is turned on, and holes
are injected from the p-collector into the drift layer. Since the holes are accumulated beneath the gate
oxide, the potential in this region, rises due to the positive charge of the holes. The gate-emitter
capacitance CGE is charged by the current from the positive charge VSE region to emitter (displacement
current IDIS). There is an uncontrolled period, which is unable to be dv/dt controlled by Rg depending
on the displacement current. Therefore, the turn-on dIc/dt is increased by the uncontrolled VGE
increase [4],[5]. As a result, the turn-on dIC/dt of IGBT will be fixed to a specific higher value even if
the gate resistance RG is set to a sufficiently large value.

Emitter electrode Gate electrode

Emitter
GDU
VGE RG
I DIS IG
VCC
Channel
VCE VSE Gate Oxide
Hole accumulation
Collector LOAD
drift layer IC VAK
FWD
Collector electrode
Fig. 8: Schematic cross sectional view of the trench gate IGBT

We designed the trench gate structure to reduce to the positive charge of the holes and to reduce
the CGE. As a result, the displacement current IDIS hardly flows and the gate-emitter capacitance CGE is
charged only by the current through the gate resistance. Fig. 9 shows the turn-on waveforms of the
new trench gate 1200V IGBT. It is shown that dv/dt decreases by enlarging the gate resistance.
Moreover, the improved trench IGBT was able to eliminate the uncontrolled period. Therefore, the
FWD reverse-recovery current also decreases by enlarging Rg.
Fig.10 shows the comparison of radiated noise for conventional vs. improved trench gate designs.
The radiation noise of the conventional trench gate is hardly decreased when the gate resistance
increased and much higher that the improved IGBT because of the large loop current caused by large
dv/dt at the uncontrolled period. However, the radiation noise of the new trench gate decreases greatly
by enlarging the gate resistance. Turn-on dv/dt is decreased by enlarging the gate resistance, and as a
result the loop current also decreases. A small increase in gate resistance reduces the radiation noise.
For example, the radiation noise can be reduced 10dB by changing the gate resistance from 4.7Ω to 9
Ω . Therefore, the radiation noise standard can be satisfied without significantly enlarging the
switching losses than that of conventional IGBT.
VCE,VAK (V)

VCE

Small Rg
Large Rg
VAK
VGE
JC (A /cm2)
VGE (V)

JC

t (ns)
VGE=+15/-15V, Vcc=600V, Tj=125℃
Fig.9: Turn on waveforms of New trench gate IGBT
 Radiation Noise [dBuV/m]
60 Rg=4.7Ω
9Ω
50 18Ω
40 27Ω

30
20
10
30 40 5060 70 80 90 100 110
f (MHz)
(a) Conventional trench gate
Radiation Noise [dBuV/m]

60 Rg=4.7Ω
9Ω
50 18Ω
40 27Ω

30
20
10
30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
f (MHz)
(b) New trench gate
Motor:15kW no-load, fc=4kHz
Fig.9: Comparison radiation noise

Fig. 11 shows the trade-off relationship between the power dissipation losses and the radiation
noise. The gate resistance was varied to control IGBT switching speed in this measurement. The
characteristic of planar gate NPT is shown for the comparison with the technology. The radiation noise
of conventional trench gate does not decrease for uncontrolled period even if the gate resistance
enlarges and the power dissipation loss increases by enlarging the gate resistance, because of
conventional trench gate IGBT has the larger Miller capacitance. However, the radiation noise of new
trench gate decreases and the increase in the dissipation losses is also a little by enlarging the gate
resistance. The radiation noise of the new trench gate decreases -15dB than that of the conventional
trench gate at the dissipation losses of 65W (to 49dB V/m from 54dBµV/m). And the dissipation
losses of the new trench gate decreases -10% than that of the conventional trench gate at the radiation
noise of 52dB (to 62W from 68W). The radiation noise decrease of planar gate almost has the same
level as the new trench gate, but the dissipation loss is larger than that of the trench gate. The reason is
that the on state loss is larger. Fuji 6th generation IGBT has applied the new trench gate technology [7].

Conclusion
This paper describes the mechanism of radiation noise coming from power electronics in a motor
drive. The radiation noise is generated from the loop currents between the stray capacitance and
inductance during IGBT switching. The most significant radiation noise generation loops (Fig. 2) are
the loop 4 of IGBT module and snubber and loops 3 of the DBC substrate and the wiring line. The
radiation noise an be reduced by the deceasing the loop area and loop current.
 80
Device:1200V/75A
70 Conditions:
VGE=±15V Conventional trench gate
Radiation Noise [dBuV/m]
fc=4kHz
60 λ=1.0 Planar　gate
cosφ=0.9
Io=45Arms
(S-series)
50

40

30
New trench gate
(V-series)
20
45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
Power dissipation loss [W]
Fig. 10: Characteristics of radiation noise versus dissipation losses

First, we attempted to design a new package with smallest loop4 area. Loop 4 area can be
reduced by careful layout of P and N lines on the insulation substrate patterns. It was found that the
loop4 area can be decreased to 59% and the radiation noise can be reduced -5dB. Secondly, to reduce
the loop current, we applied the technology of reducing dv/dt without increasing the switching losses.
We designed the trench gate structure to reduce CGC to hve high di/dt controllability during small
current turn-on do di/dt and good dv/dt control by the gate resistance. With these innovations we were
able to reduce the radiation noise by -15dB compared to that of the conventional trench gate with the
same dissipation losses.
Fuji 6th generation IGBT modules apply these low EMI noise techniques, which have feature of
low dissipation loss and low radiation noise. The first of the Fuji 6th generation IGBT line up is a
1200V/75A~150A PIM.

References
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