800V three phase motor drivers up to 20A or 4kW

Infineon is aiming to drive motors up to 4kW with a series of integrated three-phase IGBT motor drivers.

Infineon IM12BxxxC1 DIP 36x23D motor driver

There are three:

IM12B10CC1 800V 10A 2.2kW
IM12B15CC1 800V 15A 3kW
IM12B20EC1 800V 20A 4kW

Each comes in the same 36 x 23mm DIP package and includes six 1,200V IGBTs, six anti-parallel diodes, and a protected level-shifting gate driver compatible with logic-level inputs down to 3.3V.

The recommended dc-link voltage across the bridge is 350 to 800V – typically 600V – and the IM12B20EC1 data sheet picks 5kHz and 25kHz as examples of operating frequency.

The six transistors, each have corresponding inputs, and an external microcontroller is required to phase these. All of these inputs have a Schmidt trigger and glitch rejection, but additional external RC filters are recommended by the data sheet.

Internal logic inserts a dead-time to prevent shoot-through in the half-bridges if the external signals are inappropriately timed – although that said, the company recommends that 1µs dead-time be externally applied, and sets a minimum input pulse width of 1µs.

The three low-side transistors in each bridge have open emitters (see diagram) to allow current-sensing resistors to be inserted – current measurement has to be done externally.

A single open-drain pin on the package (‘RFE’) has three functions: Enable input, fault indication output and programmable fault clear time timer.

“The programmable fault-clear time can be adjusted by RC network – typical value is about 1ms at 1MΩ and 2nF,” said Infineon. “The fault-out indicates a module failure in case of under-voltage at Vdd or in case of triggered over-current detection at Itrip. The microcontroller can pull this pin low to disable functionality.”

This Itrip input pin requires external feedback circuitry from the external current sense resistors.

Heat sinking is through a thermally-conductive top-side pad, which is internally electrically-isolated from the electronics. The barrier rating looks to be 2.5kVrms (60Hz, 1min), but check the data sheet if this is important to you.

An NTC thermistor is built-in for temperature sensing.

Applications are foreseen with motors in pumps, fans, heat pumps and air conditioning.

Find the IM12B20EC1 data sheet here