Digital Twin & AI-based Control

SiC MOSFETs have emerged as a promising solution for high-power applications. However, their long-term reliability can be compromised when subjected to temperature fluctuations, which are common in many real-world operating environments. Rapid temperature cycling can induce degradation in these devices both at the semiconductor level (e.g. deep traps, interfacial stress, oxide failure, etc.) and the package level (e.g.  cracks, delamination, bond-wire lift-off, etc.). This result into non-ideal behaviour in the electrical (e.g. R_ON, V_TH, I_GSS, R_DSS, etc.) and thermal characteristics (e.g. R_TH) of the device. As a result, it is important to tackle the temperature-induced degradation and thus increase the lifetime of the SiC MOSFETs.

This work primarily focuses on implementing an efficient thermal management system based on a predictive temperature controller and smoothing algorithm to reduce the magnitude of temperature fluctuations and thus extend the SiC MOSFET module lifespan to be used in a 3-phase inverter (B6 bridge topology).

Tasks and Goals:

• Familiarization and state-of-the-art literature research for
  • different temperature sensitive electrical parameters (TSEPs) for SiC MOSFETs.
  • temperature control systems
• Determination of the setpoint MOSFET junction temperature (T_J,SP) from a given predicted temperature fluctuation profile, based on different target variables, such as range, service life, robustness and energy efficiency.
• MATLAB/Simulink-based implementation of the temperature controller, which translates the T_J,SP value into the appropriate SiC MOSFET TSEPs and other inverter parameters (e.g. dead-time, switching frequency, etc.) and thus regulate the actual junction temperature of the MOSFET (T_J,actual) .
• Experimental verification and evaluation of the temperature and smoothing control.
• Written thesis and presentation.

Expected Qualifications:

• Experience of MATLAB and Simulink.
• Knowledge of B6-bridge inverter topology.

Optional (Preferable) Qualifications:

• Attended the Robust Power Semiconductor Systems I & II courses offered by our institute.
• Experience with dSPACE equipments.

Start: Immediately

Contact: Swapnil Sunil Roge

Description:

As a HIWI, you will be responsible for various tasks related to the development of supporting circuitry for inverters with half-bridge, full-bridge and B6-bridge topologies.

Responsibilities:

• Designing PCBs for inverter circuits, such as gate driver PCBs for half-bridge, full-bridge and B6-bridge inverters.
• Performing soldering of SMD and through-hole components on PCBs with precision and accuracy.
• Performing tests on the developed circuits.

Required Skills:

• Experience in developing inverter circuits.
• Proficiency in High-Voltage PCB design using Altium Software.
• Experience in soldering PCBs.
• Ability to perform voltage and current measurements on a high-voltage setup. 

Optional/Preferred Skills:

• Experience of using stencil printer, pick & place machine and reflow oven for PCB soldering.
• Knowledge of control systems related to inverter operations.
• Familiarity with MATLAB and Simulink.

HIWI Contract Information:

• 40 hours per month

Contact: Swapnil Sunil Roge