Tunnel Magnetoresistance-Based Short-circuit Protection for SiC MOSFET in HybridPACK™ Drive Package

Silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET module in HybridPACK™ drive package has been employed for mainstream automotive high power inverter applications. The short-circuit fault, however, threatens the reliability of the power module to a large extent. The tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) sensor indicates short response delay, fair accuracy and low temperature drift for the short-circuit protection. The TMR sensor detect the short-circuit current by sensing the magnetic field in the sensitive direction. For the purpose of compact application and convenient current control, the TMR sensor is integrated on the surface of the power terminal. Concrete magnetic analysis with the assistance of finite element method (FEM) calculation is conducted by which means the short-circuit fault is to be detected in advance. A prototype based on SiC MOSFET module (STARPOWER MD29HTC120P6HE, 1200V/450A) is constructed to testify the TMR-based scheme. The short-circuit detection time of the TMR sensor is within 100ns and the SiC MOSFET module is protected in a safe manner.