Power Electronic Converter Hardware Design

Module 1: Theoretical Fundamentals of MOSFET and Switching Half-Bridge (4 Lectures) - Review of MOSFET operation, parasitic components, hard- and soft-switched half-bridge operation, switching loss mechanisms, diode reverse recovery, first-order ZVS and dead-time estimation. Module 2: Understanding MOSFET Datasheet and Packages (6 Lectures) - Interpretation of datasheet parameters (static, dynamic, thermal, SOA), capacitance nonlinearity, gate charge and switching loss estimation, cross-talk due to Miller effect, and overview of discrete, chip-scale, Kelvin- source, module, IPM packages. Module 3: Impact of Parasitic Inductances and Mitigation (5 Lectures) - Origin and modeling of parasitic inductances (package, layout, busbar), impact on overshoot and ringing, crosstalk mechanisms, experimental extraction, and mitigation using gate resistance, snubbers, clamps, component selection, high-frequency layout fundamentals (loop minimization and flux cancellation). Module 4: Gate Driver Design (5 Lectures) - Low-side and high-side driver circuits (bootstrap, DC restorer, isolator- based), CMTI considerations, driver IC selection, gate resistance design, power supply generation, and advanced features such as Miller clamp and short-circuit protection. Module 5: Sensing in Power Converters (4 Lectures) - Current sensing (shunt, CVR, toroidal, Hall-effect), voltage sensing techniques, isolation methods, signal conditioning, ADC interfacing, filtering, and layout considerations. Module 6: Capacitors in Power Electronics (3 Lectures) - Capacitor technologies (electrolytic, film, ceramic), ESR/ESL effects, impedance modeling, ripple current rating, lifetime estimation, DC-link and decoupling capacitor design criteria. Module 7: Testing and Measurement Considerations (3 Lectures) - Double Pulse Test design, switching loss measurement accuracy, probe selection, bandwidth requirements, probe parasitics, differential and isolated measurement techniques for WBG devices. Module 8: Thermal Management (5 Lectures) - Heat transfer fundamentals (conduction, convection, radiation), thermal resistance modeling, heat flow in packages, natural convection heat sink design, forced air cooling concepts. Module 9: PCB Layouts for Power Converters (3 Lectures) - Reference layout analysis for through-hole devices (e.g., TO- 247), chip-scale and GaN devices, and SiC module packages,