Contribution to the dimensioning of the different insulating materials used in high voltage power electronics module manufacturing

In railways applications high voltage IGBT power modules are used to build power converters. Such an approach allows increasing at the same time the reliability, the thermal and electrical performances, to decrease the cost and to achieve an improved design. From a material point of view, such modules have to be considered as a stack of different types of materials. Among them, the dielectric materials, both organic and inorganic, suffer from a lack of knowledge of their properties. This paper describes the step by step method which has been followed to study different ceramic substrates and encapsulation materials in order to get a better understanding of their properties and their ability to be used in such a structure. Choice and dimensioning criteria will be presented.