STMicroelectronics and Sanken Electric Co., Ltd. have collaborated to unleash the performance and practical advantages of intelligent power modules (IPM) in high-voltage, high-power equipment designs. The two companies are developing and will jointly market 650V/50A and 1,200V/10A industrial modules, which simplify design challenges and shrink the bill of materials for HVAC systems, industrial servo drives, industrial washing machines, and general-purpose inverters over 3 kW. The ST/Sanken IPM product roadmap will continue with 650V/50A automotive-grade modules for high-voltage compressors, pumps, and cooling fans.

IPMs let designers replace traditional power circuits built using discrete components with a compact, integrated device that simplifies circuit layout and PCB design. This helps accelerate time to market and improve cost-effectiveness and reliability. Leveraging easier manufacturing, faster assembly, and bill-of-materials savings, designers of high-voltage equipment can create new generations of power products that are space-saving, economical, energy-efficient, and robust.

Engineering samples of the industrial IPMs will be available in March 2021 and production will begin soon afterwards. Samples of the automotive-grade devices will be available in second half of 2021. The new IPMs integrate a complete inverter stage including six short-circuit rugged IGBTs with freewheeling diodes, associated high-side and low-side gate drivers in a single package designed optimally for thermal efficiency.

Ready to operate in hard switching up to 20 kHz, the modules also contain built-in features for protection and control. These include bootstrap diodes, short-circuit protection, under-voltage lockout protection for gate drivers, a 100 kO thermistor for temperature monitoring, and a comparator for fault protection. Additional benefits that simplify design for users and enhance safety and reliability include: 3.3V/5V TTL/CMOS-compatible inputs with hysteresis; Shutdown input and Fault output; Separate open-emitter outputs; Very fast, soft-recovery diodes; Fully isolated package with isolation rating of 2,500Vrms/min.