Semiconductor module

This is a 371 national phase application of PCT/JP2010/050130 filed 8 Jan. 2010, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor module, and in particular, to a semiconductor module which is used in vehicles such as an electric car or a hybrid car.

In the past, as a semiconductor module which is used in vehicles, for example, a semiconductor module such as that described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-159815, in which a series circuit provided with an upper arm and a lower arm is built-in and a semiconductor element and a diode in the same arm overlap each other, has been known. Then, the semiconductor module is cooled by providing cooling metals on both sides of the module and providing a cooling channel which is folded back at the diode side.

Patent Literature

[Patent Literature 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-159815

Technical Problem

However, in the conventional semiconductor module described above, the following problems arise. That is, since the diode and the semiconductor element have different areas, in a case where members having different areas overlap each other, a contact area with the cooling metal (a radiation member) is reduced in the surface of that having a smaller area (mainly, the surface on the diode side), so that heat radiation is not sufficiently performed. Further, a state, such as during motor locking, where only a specific switching element produces heat is not taken into account, and thus the above-described cooling structure is not sufficient.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a technical problem and an object of the invention is to provide a semiconductor module in which improvement in heat radiation efficiency can be attained.

Solution to Problem

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a semiconductor module comprising: an upper arm and a lower arm, each of the arms having a switching element and a rectifying device, wherein the upper arm and the lower arm are laminated such that the switching elements of the upper arm and the lower arm overlap each other and the rectifying devices of the upper arm and the lower arm overlap each other.

In the semiconductor module according to the above aspect of the invention, since the upper arm and the lower arm are laminated to face each other such that the switching elements of the upper and lower arms overlap each other and the rectifying devices overlap each other, the switching elements of the upper and lower arms form a laminated structure and the rectifying devices of the upper and lower arms form a laminated structure. For this reason, the contact areas with radiation members are equal at the upper and lower surfaces, so it is possible to diffuse heat evenly. As a result, heat radiation efficiency can be improved.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a semiconductor module provided with an upper arm and a lower arm, each of the arms having a switching element and a rectifying device, the module comprising: a switching element lamination section in which the switching elements of the upper arm and the lower arm overlap each other; a rectifying device lamination section in which the rectifying devices of the upper arm and the lower arm overlap each other; and cooling sections provided at least on both sides in the lamination direction of the switching elements and the lamination direction of the rectifying devices and that cool the switching element lamination section and the rectifying device lamination section.

In the semiconductor module according to the above aspect of the invention, since the switching element lamination section in which the switching elements of the upper and lower arms overlap each other and the rectifying device lamination section in which the rectifying devices of the upper and lower arms overlap each other are provided, the contact areas with the radiation members become equal to each other at the upper and lower surfaces. In this way, it becomes possible to diffuse heat evenly, so that heat radiation efficiency can be improved. Further, since the cooling sections are provided at least on both sides in the lamination direction of the switching elements and the lamination direction of the rectifying devices, the arm on the side where heat generation does not occur can be used as a radiation area making use of the fact that the upper and lower arms do not produce heat at the same time during motor locking. Therefore, cooling performance during motor locking can be improved and the heat radiation efficiency of the entire module can be improved.

In the semiconductor module according to the above aspect of the invention, the cooling sections may have a refrigerant and a refrigerant flow path for circulating the refrigerant, and the refrigerant flow paths may be respectively provided along both sides in the lamination direction of the switching elements and the lamination direction of the rectifying devices and folded back at the rectifying device lamination section side. In this case, since the upper and lower arms are laminated to each other and the refrigerant flow paths are folded back, a reduction in the size of the entire module can be attained. Further, by folding back the refrigerant flow paths to the rectifying device lamination section side where heat generation does not occur, since the temperature of the refrigerant in the switching element lamination section is kept low, it is possible to improve the cooling function.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the invention, a semiconductor module can be provided in which improvement in heat radiation efficiency can be attained.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a semiconductor module related to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view along line II-II of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along line III-III of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of a power control unit using the semiconductor module.

FIG. 5A is a circuit diagram showing a current flow of a pressurization converter during powering and FIG. 5B is a circuit diagram showing a current flow of the pressurization converter during regeneration.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing a flow of an electric current during motor locking.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the semiconductor module.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the semiconductor module.

FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view along line IX-IX of FIG. 8 .

FIGS. 10A and 10B are schematic cross-sectional views showing modified examples of a projection portion.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in the description of the drawings, the same element is denoted by the same reference numeral and an overlapping description is omitted.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a semiconductor module related to an embodiment, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view along line II-II of FIG. 1 , and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along line III-III of FIG. 1 . A semiconductor module 1 related to this embodiment includes an upper arm 2 and a lower arm 3 of an inverter circuit. The upper arm 2 and the lower arm 3 have the same structure and are laminated to be symmetrically displaced vertically with respect to a bus bar 10 disposed therebetween. Then, coolers 4 A and 4 B are provided on both sides of the laminated body of the upper arm 2 and the lower arm 3 .

The upper arm 2 includes a plurality of switching elements 5 A, rectifying devices 6 A, and insulating substrates 7 A, on which the switching elements 5 A and the rectifying devices 6 A are mounted. As shown in FIG. 2 , an emitter which is located on the surface side of the switching element 5 A is electrically connected to the bus bar 10 through a solder layer 8 A. A collector which is located on the back side of the switching element 5 A is fixed to the insulating substrate 7 A by a solder layer 9 A. Further, as shown in FIG. 3 , an anode which is located on the surface side of the rectifying device (for example, a diode) 6 A is electrically connected to the bus bar 10 through the solder layer 8 A. A cathode which is located on the back side of the rectifying device 6 A is fixed to the insulating substrate 7 A by the solder layer 9 A.

The insulating substrate 7 A is a DBA (Direct Brazed Aluminum) substrate and has a structure in which an upper metal layer 11 made of aluminum or aluminum alloy, an insulating layer 12 made of aluminum nitride, and a lower metal layer 13 made of aluminum or aluminum alloy are laminated. The upper metal layer 11 is electrically connected to the switching element 5 A and the rectifying device 6 A through the solder layer 9 A. The lower metal layer 13 is joined to the cooler 4 A by brazing. Further, the upper metal layer 11 is electrically connected to a bus bar 15 through a bonding wire 14 .

The lower arm 3 includes a plurality of switching elements 5 B, rectifying devices 6 B, and insulating substrates 7 B, on which the switching elements 5 B and the rectifying devices 6 B are mounted. As shown in FIG. 2 , an emitter which is located on the surface side of the switching element 5 B is electrically connected to the bus bar 10 through a solder layer 8 B. A collector which is located on the back side of the switching element 5 B is fixed to the insulating substrate 7 B by a solder layer 9 B.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3 , an anode which is located on the surface side of the rectifying device (for example, a diode) 6 B is electrically connected to the bus bar 10 through the solder layer 8 B. A cathode which is located on the back side of the rectifying device 6 B is fixed to the insulating substrate 7 B by the solder layer 9 B. The insulating substrate 7 B has the same structure as the insulating substrate 7 A. An upper metal layer 11 of the insulating substrate 7 B is electrically connected to a bus bar 17 through a bonding wire 16 . The lower arm 3 is joined to the cooler 4 B by brazing.

By laminating the upper arm 2 and the lower arm 3 , a switching element lamination section 1 A in which the switching elements 5 A and 5 B overlap each other and a rectifying device lamination section 1 B in which the rectifying devices 6 A and 6 B overlap each other are respectively formed.

The coolers 4 A and 4 B are respectively provided on both sides in the lamination direction of the upper arm 2 and the lower arm 3 and cool the switching element lamination section 1 A and the rectifying device lamination section 1 B. Each of the coolers 4 A and 4 B has a cooling fin 18 formed in a wavelike fashion, and a top plate 19 and a bottom plate 20 which fix the cooling fin 18 with it interposed therebetween.

The top plate 19 is disposed on the side adjacent to the upper arm 2 or the lower arm 3 and fixed to the lower metal layer 13 of each of the insulating substrates 7 A and 7 B by brazing. On the other hand, the bottom plate 20 is disposed on the outer side of the module to face the top plate 19 . The cooling fin 18 , the top plate 19 , and the bottom plate 20 are formed of a material such as aluminum or steel having high thermal conductivity. A hollow portion partitioned by the cooling fin 18 in the inside of each of the coolers 4 A and 4 B forms a refrigerant flow path 21 for circulating a refrigerant.

As shown in FIG. 3 , a connecting section 4 C which extends along the lamination direction of the upper arm 2 and the lower arm 3 and connects the cooler 4 A and the cooler 4 B to each other is provided on the rectifying device lamination section 1 B side. By providing the connecting section 4 C in this manner, the refrigerant flow path 21 is folded back at the rectifying device lamination section 1 B side. Then, the refrigerant is introduced from an inlet 22 along the direction of arrow F 1 , goes through the refrigerant flow path 21 in the cooler 4 A, is folded back at the rectifying device lamination section 1 B side, flows through the refrigerant flow path 21 in the cooler 4 B, and is discharged to the outside by way of an outlet 23 . In this way, the refrigerant absorbs the generated heat from the switching element lamination section 1 A and the rectifying device lamination section 1 B, thereby efficiently cooling the switching element lamination section 1 A and the rectifying device lamination section 1 B.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of a power control unit using the semiconductor module. The power control unit is mounted on, for example, a hybrid car and includes a pressurization converter 24 , an inverter 25 , and a motor generator 26 . The pressurization converter 24 is a direct-current voltage converter that performs electric charge and electric discharge of a storage battery 27 , and has capacitors 28 and 29 , a reactor 30 , transistors (switching elements) 31 and 32 , and diodes (rectifying devices) 33 and 34 .

The capacitor 28 is connected in parallel with the storage battery 27 between a power-supply line L 1 and a ground line L 2 and smoothes the charge and discharge voltage of the storage battery 27 . The reactor 30 is connected, at one end thereof, to the power-supply line L 1 and, at the other end, to a connection point of the transistors 31 and 32 . The transistors 31 and 32 are connected in series between a power-supply line L 3 and the ground line L 2 . Then, each of the diodes 33 and 34 is connected between the collector and the emitter of each of the transistors 31 and 32 so as to pass an electric current from the emitter side to the collector side.

Each of the transistors 31 and 32 is constituted by, for example, an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT). The capacitor 29 is connected between the power-supply line L 3 and the ground line L 2 and functions as a power buffer.

The inverter 25 performs power conversion between the pressurization converter 24 and the motor generator 26 . That is, the inverter 25 can convert direct-current power that is supplied from the storage battery 27 into three-phase alternating-current power having a three-phase voltage (U-phase voltage, V-phase voltage, and W-phase voltage) and also convert three-phase alternating-current power that is supplied from the motor generator 26 into direct-current power.

The inverter 25 has a U-phase arm 35 , a V-phase arm 36 , and a W-phase arm 37 . The U-phase arm 35 , the V-phase arm 36 , and the W-phase arm 37 are connected in parallel between the power-supply line L 3 and the ground line L 2 . Each of the U-phase arm 35 , the V-phase arm 36 , and the W-phase arm 37 is provided with the switching elements 5 A and 5 B connected in series to each other and the rectifying devices (the diodes) 6 A and 6 B respectively connected in parallel with the switching elements 5 A and 5 B.

Then, each of the U-phase arm 35 , the V-phase arm 36 , and the W-phase arm 37 is connected to a coil end on the opposite side to a neutral point of each phase coil of the motor generator 26 through each of output lines L 4 , L 5 , and L 6 . The motor generator 26 is constituted by, for example, a three-phase alternating-current synchronous electric motor-generator and generates a driving force by the three-phase alternating-current voltage from the inverter 25 . Further, the motor generator 26 generates three-phase alternating-current voltage with use of the output of an engine and outputs the generated three-phase alternating-current voltage to the inverter 25 .

FIG. 5A is a circuit diagram showing current flow of the pressurization converter during powering and FIG. 5B is a circuit diagram showing current flow of the pressurization converter during regeneration. As shown in FIG. 5A , an electric current which is supplied from the storage battery 27 during the powering goes through the reactor 30 and flows through each of the transistor 32 and the diode 33 (refer to an arrow F 2 ). On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5B , during regeneration, a three-phase alternating electric current goes through the transistor 31 and the diode 34 and flows through the reactor 30 (refer to an arrow F 3 ).

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing the flow of an electric current during motor locking. In FIG. 6 , in a case where a U-phase upper arm 2 U has the maximum current (that is, in the case where locking which becomes inverter heat rate-limiting), flow of a U-phase current is shown by a broken line, flow of a V-phase current is shown by a dashed-dotted line, and flow of a W-phase current is shown by a dashed-two dotted line.

From FIGS. 5A , 5 B, and 6 , it is obvious that the switching elements 5 A and 5 B of the upper and lower arms 2 and 3 do not flow an electric current at the same time and the rectifying devices 6 A and 6 B do not flow an electric current at the same time. That is, in this case, the switching elements 5 A and 5 B do not produce heat at the same time and the rectifying devices 6 A and 6 B do not produce heat at the same time. Therefore, by laminating the switching elements 5 A and 5 B of the upper and lower arms 2 and 3 to each other and laminating the rectifying devices 6 A and 6 B to each other, it is possible to release heat from the arm through which an electric current does not flow (which does not produce heat). In this manner, by increasing the routes through which heat escapes by adopting a structure in which the switching elements 5 A and 5 B which do not produce heat at the same time are laminated to each other and the rectifying devices 6 A and 6 B which do not produce heat at the same time are laminated to each other, an improvement in heat radiation efficiency can be attained and the cooling function can be improved.

In the semiconductor module 1 configured as described above, since the switching elements 5 A and 5 B of the upper and lower arms 2 and 3 overlap each other and the rectifying devices 6 A and 6 B overlap each other, contact areas with the coolers 4 A and 4 B are uniform at the upper and lower surfaces. In this way, it is possible to diffuse heat evenly, so that heat radiation efficiency can be improved. In addition, by laminating the upper arm 2 and the lower arm 3 , a reduction in the size of the semiconductor module 1 is attained easily.

Further, since the coolers 4 A and 4 B are provided on both sides in the lamination direction of the switching elements 5 A and 5 B and the lamination direction of the rectifying devices 6 A and 6 B, with use of the fact that during motor locking, the switching elements 5 A and 5 B do not produce heat at the same time and the rectifying devices 6 A and 6 B do not produce heat at the same time, the arm on the side where heat generation does not occur can be used as a radiation area. Therefore, even in a situation where only a specific switching element of the switching elements 5 A and 5 B or only a specific rectifying device of the rectifying devices 6 A and 6 B produces heat, as in during motor locking, cooling capacity can be sufficiently secured. As a result, the heat radiation efficiency of the entire semiconductor module 1 can be improved.

In addition, since the refrigerant flow paths 21 are folded back at the rectifying device lamination section 1 B side, a reduction in the size of the entire module is easily attained. Further, since the amount of heat generation in the rectifying devices 6 A and 6 B is relatively lower than that in the switching elements 5 A and 5 B, by folding the refrigerant flow paths 21 back at the rectifying device lamination section 1 B side, it is possible to secure a pressure loss in which there is a need to cool the switching elements 5 A and 5 B. In addition, since in the switching element lamination section 1 A, the temperature of the refrigerant is kept low, cooling performance which cools the switching elements 5 A and 5 B can be improved.

Hereinafter, modified examples of the semiconductor module will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 .

In the modified example shown in FIG. 7 , a space 38 that is a portion of the refrigerant flow path 21 is formed in the inside of each of the coolers 4 A and 4 B and at a position directly below each of the switching elements 5 A and 5 B. The space 38 extends between the bottom plate 20 and the insulating layer 12 of each of the insulating substrate 7 A and 7 B. In this way, since the refrigerant can directly cool the insulating layer 12 , as shown by arrow F 4 , the refrigerant more efficiently absorbs heat, so that it is possible to improve cooling performance. Further, by providing the space 38 in this manner, an effect as a stress relieving material such as the role of a punching metal can also be expected, and stress can be relieved.

In the modified example shown in FIG. 8 , a projection portion 12 a which projects into the space 38 is provided at the insulating layer 12 of each of the insulating substrates 7 A and 7 B. The projection portion 12 a is formed into the form of a fin in order to more greatly increase the contact area with the refrigerant. FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view along line IX-IX of FIG. 8 . In FIG. 9 , (a) shows the space 38 which is formed at a position directly below each of the switching elements 5 A and 5 B, and (b) shows a space 39 which is formed at a position directly below each of the rectifying devices 6 A and 6 B.

As shown in (a) of FIG. 9 , the space 38 formed at a position directly below each of the switching elements 5 A and 5 B is formed with a circular cross-section and the projection portion 12 a of the insulating layer 12 is formed in a cylindrical shape. On the other hand, the space 39 formed at a position directly below each of the rectifying devices 6 A and 6 B is formed with an elliptical cross-section and a projection portion 12 b is formed in an elliptic columnar shape (refer to (b) of FIG. 9 ).

As shown in FIG. 8 , in this case, the refrigerant comes into direct contact with the insulating layer 12 not only from below, but also from the periphery of the projection portion 12 a , as shown by arrow F 5 , thereby being able to cool the projection portion 12 a . In this way, the effect of absorbing heat can be further increased, so that cooling performance can be improved.

In addition, the shape, disposition, or the like of the projection portion is not limited to the contents described above. For example, as shown in FIG. 10A , each of the projection portions 12 a and 12 b may also be formed as a flat plate and provided in a plurality and in parallel according to the space of each of the spaces 38 and 39 , otherwise, as shown in FIG. 10B , each of the projection portions 12 a and 12 b may also be formed in the form of a bar and arranged according to the space of each of the spaces 38 and 39 . In this case, the contact area of the refrigerant with the projection portions 12 a and 12 b can be even further increased, so that the effect in which heat is absorbed can be further increased.

The above-described embodiment shows one example of the semiconductor module according to the invention. The semiconductor module according to the invention is not limited to that described in the above-described embodiment. The semiconductor module according to the invention may also include a modification of the semiconductor module related to the embodiment made so as not to change the gist stated in each claim, or may also be applied to others.

Reference Signs List

1 : semiconductor module

1 A: switching element lamination section

1 B: rectifying device lamination section

2 : upper arm

3 : lower arm

4 A, 4 B: cooler

5 A, 5 B: switching element

6 A, 6 B: rectifying device

21 : refrigerant flow path