Semiconductor module

Details Semiconductor module Semiconductor module

1999-11-29

2004-12-28

Locke, Steven (Department: 2811)

Active solid-state devices (e.g., transistors, solid-state diode

Housing or package

Multiple housings

C257S777000, C257S723000, C257S712000, C257S706000, C257S691000, C257S784000, C257S785000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06836006

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor modules used in power conversion devices such as inverters and converters, and particularly to the arrangement of semiconductor devices in the module.
2. Description of the Background Art
The semiconductor modules used in power conversion devices such as inverters and converters include MOSFET modules containing a plurality of MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) devices, diode modules containing a plurality of diode devices, and IGBT modules containing a plurality of IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) devices and diode devices, for example. IGBT modules containing a plurality of semiconductor devices, IGBT devices and diode devices, connected in parallel will be described herein as an example of the semiconductor module.
The conventional IGBT modules include that described in “A Novel Low-Cost and High-Reliability IGBT Module for General Use,” written by E.Tamba, M.Sasaki, S.Sekine, Y.Sonobe, K.Suzuki, K.Yamada, R.Saito, T.Terasaki, O.Suzuki, T.Shigemura et al. European Conference on Power Electronics and Applications 1997, Trondheim, for example.
FIG. 8
is a plane view mainly showing the semiconductor device area in this conventional IGBT module and
FIG. 9
is a sectional view mainly showing an area including an IGBT device and a diode device in the module.
In
FIGS. 8 and 9
, the conventional semiconductor module includes a radiation board
1
made of metal, e.g. copper, for cooling the semiconductor devices, insulating substrates
2
made of aluminum nitride or the like and bonded on the radiation board
1
, electrode patterns
2
a
bonded on both sides of the insulating substrates
2
, and IGBT devices
3
and diode devices
4
as semiconductor devices bonded on the metal patterns
2
a
on the insulating substrates
2
. Each IGBT device
3
has an emitter electrode
5
and a gate electrode
6
formed on its one side and a collector electrode
7
formed on the entire surface on the other side, and each diode device
4
has an anode electrode
8
formed on its one side and a cathode electrode
9
formed on the entire surface on the other side thereof. Emitter relay substrates
10
, collector relay substrates
11
, and gate interconnection substrates
12
are bonded on the radiation board
1
, and electrode patterns
10
a
,
11
a
, and
12
a
are respectively bonded on both sides of the substrates.
It also includes aluminum wires
13
a
,
13
b
,
13
c
as interconnections, a module emitter electrode
14
, a module collector electrode
15
, and module gate electrodes
16
as external terminals, a case
17
made of a resin material and fixed on the radiation board
1
, and resin
18
sealing the inside of the case
17
.
As shown in
FIGS. 8 and 9
, the insulating substrates
2
are bonded with solder on the radiation board
1
and the IGBT devices
3
and the diode devices
4
are bonded side by side with solder on the electrode patterns
2
a
on the insulating substrates
2
. Each emitter electrode
5
on the surface of the IGBT device
3
and the anode electrode
8
on the surface of the diode device
4
are connected through the aluminum wires
13
a
, which are further connected to the electrode pattern
10
a
on the emitter relay substrate
10
.
The electrode pattern
2
a
on the insulating substrate
2
, to which the IGBT device
3
and the diode device
4
are bonded, is connected to the electrode pattern
11
a
on the collector relay substrate
11
through the aluminum wires
13
b
, so as to connect the collector electrode
7
on the back of the IGBT device
3
, the cathode electrode
9
on the back of the diode device
4
, and the electrode pattern
11
a
on the collector relay substrate
11
.
In this way, this semiconductor module contains four IGBT devices
3
and four diode devices
4
, where the IGBT devices
3
and the diode devices
4
are connected in inverse parallel. That is to say, the devices are connected to form one module in such a manner that the emitter electrode
5
of the IGBT device
3
and the anode electrode
8
of the diode device
4
are at the same potential and the collector electrode
7
of the IGBT device
3
and the cathode electrode
9
of the diode device
4
are at the same potential.
The module emitter electrode
14
as an external emitter terminal is connected to the electrode patterns
10
a
on the emitter relay substrates
10
, and the module collector electrode
15
as an external collector terminal is connected to the electrode patterns
11
a
on the collector relay substrates
11
. These external terminals
14
and
15
make connections to other semiconductor modules and the like (not shown) outside the case
17
to form a circuit like an inverter. The gate electrode
6
of each IGBT device
3
is connected to the electrode pattern
12
a
on the gate interconnection substrate
12
through the aluminum wire
13
c
to control the gate potential for turning on/off the IGBT device
3
, and the electrode pattern
12
a
is further connected to the module gate electrode
16
serving as an external gate terminal.
FIG. 10
shows a circuit diagram of a three-phase inverter circuit as a typical example of a circuit to which the IGBT module is applied.
FIG. 10
shows IGBT modules
19
on the positive side, IGBT modules
20
on the negative side, a positive terminal
21
of DC voltage source, a negative terminal
22
of DC voltage source, a collector terminal
23
of the positive-side IGBT module
19
in the U phase, and an emitter terminal
24
of the negative-side IGBT module
20
. The connection point
25
between the emitter terminal of the positive-side IGBT module
19
and the collector terminal of the negative-side IGBT module
20
is a U-phase output terminal.
The power conversion devices like inverters using the semiconductor modules are used as motor driving power source in trains, for example, which are usually installed in limited space. Therefore size reduction is extremely important.
In the conventional IGBT module constructed as described above, the semiconductor devices in the IGBT module, or the IGBT device
3
and the diode device
4
, are provided side by side in the lateral direction on the radiation board
1
with the insulating substrate
2
therebetween so that the heat generated in operation can be conducted to the radiation board
1
for cooling. The emitter electrode
5
and the anode electrode
8
formed on the surfaces of the devices
3
and
4
are connected by wire bonding through the aluminum wires
13
a.
Accordingly, the area reduction of the IGBT module in the plane direction (the direction in which the semiconductor devices
3
and
4
are arranged) is limited, which hinders effective size reduction of the IGBT module.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor module comprises: a first semiconductor device; a second semiconductor device; and a case for accommodating the first and second semiconductor devices, wherein the first and second semiconductor devices have their respective main electrodes, and the first and second semiconductor devices are stacked, with an element connecting conductor interposed between the main electrodes.
Preferably, according to a second aspect, in the semiconductor module, the first and second semiconductor devices are stacked, with their respective main electrodes facing each other.
Preferably, according to a third aspect, in the semiconductor module, the first and second semiconductor devices are the same kind of semiconductor devices.
Preferably, according to a fourth aspect, in the semiconductor module, the main electrodes of the first and second semiconductor devices are main electrodes having the same function.
Preferably, according to a fifth aspect, in the semiconductor module, the main electrodes of the first and second semiconductor devices are main electrodes having opposite functions.
Preferably, according to a sixth aspect, in the semiconductor module, the first semiconductor device is

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