IGBT (Ideal, Switching)

Ideal insulated-gate bipolar transistor for switching applications

  • Library:
  • Simscape / Electrical / Semiconductors & Converters / Semiconductors

  • IGBT (Ideal, Switching) block

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, Vth, 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, Vf, and on-resistance, Ron. 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, Goff.

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.

GoalValue to SelectBlock Behavior
Prioritize simulation speed.Protection diode with no dynamicsThe 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.Protection diode with charge dynamicsThe block includes an integral copy of the dynamic model of the Diode block. To parameterize the internal Diode block, use the Protection parameters.

Modeling Variants

The block provides four modeling variants. To select the desired variant, right-click the block in your model. From the context menu, select Simscape > Block choices, and then one of these variants:

  • PS Control Port — Contains a physical signal port that is associated with the gate terminal. This variant is the default.

  • Electrical Control Port — Contains an electrical conserving port that is associated with the gate terminal.

  • PS Control Port | Thermal Port — Contains a thermal port and a physical signal port that is associated with the gate terminal.

  • Electrical Control Port | Thermal Port — Contains a thermal port and an electrical conserving port that is associated with the gate terminal.

The variants of this block without the thermal port do not simulate heat generation in the device.

The variants with the thermal port allow you to model the heat that switching events and conduction losses generate. The thermal port is hidden by default. To enable the thermal port, select a thermal block variant.

Thermal Losses

The figure shows an idealized representation of the output voltage, Vout, and the output current, Iout, of the semiconductor device. The interval shown includes the entire nth 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 to the attached thermal network using a first-order time constant, resulting in smooth change in temperature of the junction thermal mass. 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 as lastTurnOffLoss and lastTurnOnLoss and plotted 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 number of pulses scaled off the reported switching loss.

Variables

The Variables settings allow you to specify the priority and initial target values for block variables before simulation. For more information, see Set Priority and Initial Target for Block Variables.

To enable the Variables settings for this block, set the variant to PS Control Port | Thermal Port or Electrical Control Port | Thermal Port.

Ports

The figure shows the block port names.

Conserving

expand all

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

Electrical conserving port associated with the collector terminal

Electrical conserving port associated with the emitter terminal

Thermal conserving port. The thermal port is optional and is hidden by default. To enable this port, select a variant that includes a thermal port.

Parameters

expand all

Main

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

Main Parameter Dependencies

Parameters and Options
Block choice
PS control port or Electrical control portPS control port | Thermal port or Electrical control port | Thermal port
Forward voltage, VfThreshold voltage, Vth
On-state resistanceOn-state behaviour and switching losses
Specify constant valuesTabulate with temperature and current
Off-state conductanceForward voltage, VfOn-state voltage, Vds(Tj,Ice)
Threshold voltage, VthOn-state resistanceOff-state conductance
Off-state conductanceSwitch-on loss, Eon(Tj,Ice)
Switch-on lossSwitch-off loss, Eoff(Tj,Ice)
Switch-off lossTemperature vector, Tj
Off-state voltage for switching loss dataCollector-emitter current vector, Ice
On-state current for switching loss dataOff-state voltage for switching loss data
Energy dissipation time constantEnergy dissipation time constant

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.

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

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Collector-emitter resistance when the device is on.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

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.

Gate-emitter voltage at which the device turns on.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

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

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

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

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

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.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

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

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

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.

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

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

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

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

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

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Collector-emitter 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 vector quantity.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

First-order time lag with which instantaneous switching losses smoothly raise the junction temperature.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Integral Diode

Block integral protection diode.

The diodes you can select are:

  • None

  • Protection diode with no dynamics

  • Protection diode with charge dynamics

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.

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

Dependencies

To enable this parameter:

  • If the thermal port is hidden, set Integral protection diode to Protection diode with no dynamics or Protection diode with charge dynamics.

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

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 Protection diode with no dynamics or Protection diode with charge dynamics.

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

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.

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.

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.

Conductance of the reverse-biased diode.

Dependencies

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

Diode junction capacitance.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics.

Peak reverse current measured by an external test circuit. This value must be less than zero. The default value is -235 A.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics.

Initial forward current when measuring peak reverse current. This value must be greater than zero.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics.

Rate of change of current when measuring peak reverse current. This value must be less than zero.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics.

Determines how you specify reverse recovery time in the block. The default value is Specify reverse recovery time directly.

If you select Specify stretch factor or Specify reverse recovery charge, you specify a value that the block uses to derive the reverse recovery time. For more information on these options, see How the Block Calculates TM and Tau.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics.

Interval between the time when the current initially goes to zero (when the diode turns off) and the time when the current falls to less than 10% of the peak reverse current. The value of the Reverse recovery time, trr parameter must be greater than the value of the Peak reverse current, iRM parameter divided by the value of the Rate of change of current when measuring iRM parameter.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics and the Reverse recovery time parameterization parameter is set to Specify reverse recovery time directly.

Value that the block uses to calculate Reverse recovery time, trr. This value must be greater than 1. Specifying the stretch factor is an easier way to parameterize the reverse recovery time than specifying the reverse recovery charge. The larger the value of the stretch factor, the longer it takes for the reverse recovery current to dissipate.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics and the Reverse recovery time parameterization parameter is set to Specify stretch factor.

Value that the block uses to calculate Reverse recovery time, trr. Use this parameter if the data sheet for your diode device specifies a value for the reverse recovery charge instead of a value for the reverse recovery time.

The reverse recovery charge is the total charge that continues to dissipate when the diode turns off. The value must be less than i2RM2a,

where:

  • iRM is the value specified for Peak reverse current, iRM.

  • a is the value specified for Rate of change of current when measuring iRM.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics and the Reverse recovery time parameterization parameter is set to Specify reverse recovery charge.

Thermal Port

Use the thermal port to simulate the effects of generated heat and device temperature. For more information on using thermal ports and on the Thermal Port parameters, see Simulating Thermal Effects in Semiconductors.

Compatibility Considerations

expand all

Behavior changed in R2020b

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation
Generate C and C++ code using Simulink® Coder™.

Introduced in R2013b