Development of a Double-Pulse Testing Setup

Abstract

Double-pulse test (DPT) is commonly used as a method to test the switching performance of a power semiconductor. In this project, I will design a double pulse test set-up for studying the switching characteristics of Insulated-Gate-Bipolar-Junction-Transistors (IGBT). The design consists of three parts. Firstly, I need to program a MCU for generating the double pulse. Second, I have to design a gate drive circuit for driving the IGBT on and off. Finally, I have to design a main testing circuit with an inductive load for measuring the switching parameters of IGBT such as collector current Ic, collector-emitter voltage Vce and gate-emitter voltage Vge. After the test, I will analyze the switching performance of the IGBT such as the switching delay and the switching loss. Besides, I will compare the DPT performance of using double layer PCB layout with using four layers PCB layout, and conclude the advantage of using multi-layer PCB design for the DPT. Finally, I will suggest some approaches for improving my DPT set-up.