SEMICONDUCTOR SWITCH ASSEMBLY COMPRISING AT LEAST TWO POWER SEMICONDUCTORS

Abstract

The invention relates to a topological semiconductor switch for power electronics that has at least two power semiconductors, in particular power transistors, characterized in that the topological semiconductor switch has at least one first power semiconductor containing a first semiconductor material, and at least one second power semiconductor containing a second semiconductor material. The invention also relates to a motor vehicle.

Claims

1. A topological semiconductor switch for power electronics comprising: at least two power semiconductors, in particular power transistors, wherein at least one first power semiconductor of the at least two power semiconductors contains a first semiconductor material, and at least one second power semiconductor of the at least two power semiconductors contains a second semiconductor material.

2. The topological semiconductor switch according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least two power semiconductors are connected to a negative pole of a battery or a positive pole of the battery.

3. The topological semiconductor switch according to claim 1, wherein there are a same number of first power semiconductors and second power semiconductors.

4. The topological semiconductor switch according to claim 1, wherein the first semiconductor material is silicon (Si).

5. The topological semiconductor switch according to claim 1, wherein the at least one first power semiconductor containing the first semiconductor material is an IGBT.

6. The topological semiconductor switch according to claim 1, wherein the second semiconductor material is silicon carbide (SiC).

7. The topological semiconductor switch according to claim 1, wherein the at least one second power semiconductor containing the second semiconductor material is a MOSFET.

8. A semiconductor package comprising the topological semiconductor switch according to claim 1.

9. A half-bridge module comprising the semiconductor package according to claim 8.

10. A B6 module comprising at least one half-bridge module according to claim 9.

11. An inverter comprising at least two topological semiconductor switches according to claim 1.

12. An electric motor assembly comprising at least one electric motor and the inverter according to claim 11.

13. A motor vehicle comprising the electric motor assembly according to claim 12.

14. The motor vehicle according to claim 13 comprising one electric axle.

15. The topological semiconductor switch according to claim 1, wherein the at least two power semiconductors are power transistors.

16. The topological semiconductor switch according to claim 4, wherein the second semiconductor material is silicon carbide (SiC).

17. The topological semiconductor switch according to claim 5, wherein the at least one second power semiconductor containing the second semiconductor material is a MOSFET.

18. The topological semiconductor switch according to claim 17, wherein the first semiconductor material is silicon (Si), and wherein the second semiconductor material is silicon carbide (SiC).

19. A half-bridge module comprising at least two topological semiconductor switches according to claim 1.

Description

[0049] Further advantages, features, and details of the invention can be derived from the following description of exemplary embodiments and the drawings. Therein:

[0050] FIG. 1 shows a motor vehicle;

[0051] FIG. 2 shows a first design for a topological switch;

[0052] FIG. 3 shows a second design for a topological switch;

[0053] FIG. 4 shows a half-bridge module; and

[0054] FIG. 5 shows a B6 module.

[0055] FIG. 1 shows a motor vehicle 1 that has power electronics 2, e.g. in the form of an inverter 3. This comprises a power module 4, among other things.

[0056] The motor vehicle 1 can contain an electric axle 5. The motor vehicle 1 can be either a hybrid motor vehicle or an electric vehicle. Particularly preferably, the motor vehicle 1 has a single electric axle.

[0057] The components of the power module 4 shall be described below starting at the bottom and progressing to the top.

[0058] FIG. 2 shows a topological switch 6 that has three power transistors, one of which is a MOSFET 7, and two of which are IGBTs 8. The MOSFET 7 preferably contains silicon carbide as its semiconductor material, and the IBGTs 8 contain silicon. If, purely by way of example, the topological switch is designed to process 300 A, the power transistors 7 and 8 must each be able to process 100 A. They are connected in parallel, for which reason the current load is additive.

[0059] It is clear that the number of power semiconductors, in particular power transistors 7 and 8, is not precisely determined in a topological switch 6. It is also clear, however, that there is a switching function between the input 9 and the output 10. This is obtained with the topological switch 6. The only critical part of its construction is that it has at least one first power semiconductor that contains a first semiconductor material and at least one second power semiconductor that contains a second semiconductor material, as described above. In this example, the first power semiconductor is the MOSFET 7, which contains the first semiconductor material SiC, and the second power semiconductors are two IGBTs 8, which contain the second semiconductor material Si. These semiconductor transistors, containing the indicated materials, are preferred, but the numbers thereof depend on the current loads, and are therefore merely exemplary.

[0060] Normally, a topological switch also has one diode for each transistor. For purposes of clarity, these are not shown.

[0061] FIG. 3 shows a modified topological switch 6 that contains four transistors, two of which are MOSFETs 7, and two of which are IGBTs 8. This illustrates the variability of a topological switch 6.

[0062] It should be noted that the power semiconductors can preferably be activated separately, regardless of their concrete designs and the design of the topological switch 6. This also means that they can all be activated simultaneously as well, or any combination of individual power semiconductors or each individual semiconductor can be activated separately.

[0063] FIG. 4 shows a half-bridge module 12. This contains two topological switches 6 connected in series. The input 9 is connected to the positive pole of a battery, and the output 10 is connected to the negative pole. A phase current in the phase line 16 can be tapped into at the connection 14. Each of the topological switches 6 can have the design shown in FIG. 2 or 3. Preferably, the topological switches 6 are identical to one another. This means that if the topological switch has four transistors at the positive side, it also has the same at the negative side. If there are two MOSFETs and two IGBTs at the negative side, then there are the same at the positive side.

[0064] The topological switch at the positive side is also referred to as the high-side switch, and the topological switch at the negative side is referred to as the low-side switch.

[0065] FIG. 5 shows a so-called B6 module 18. This has one half-bridge 20 for each phase PH1, PH2, PH3 for a multiphase electric motor. Depending on the current load, a half-bridge 20 can contain one half-bridge module 12, or two or more. A half-bridge 20 is therefore also a topology. Its function is to provide a phase current. With three phase currents, a B6 module 18 has three half-bridges 20, and therefore at least three half-bridge modules 12. The topological switches 6 in the half-bridge modules are preferably identical.

REFERENCE SYMBOLS

[0066] 1 motor vehicle [0067] 2 power electronics [0068] 3 inverter assembly [0069] 4 power module [0070] 5 electric axle [0071] 6 electric motor assembly [0072] 7 MOSFET [0073] 8 IBGT [0074] 9 input [0075] 10 output [0076] 12 half-bridge module [0077] 14 connection [0078] 16 phase [0079] 18 B6 module [0080] 20 half-bridge