Olivier's Twist Blog

The motor, battery and electrical control system are known as the tri-electric system of e-Mobility.

During the design phase of a power module, engineers select the components, materials and manufacturing technologies to fulfill the requirements regarding performance, reliability and costs set by their customers. Over-engineering can be desirable when safety, reliability and performance are critical.

In this edition we would like to answer a few frequently asked questions to benefit those new to the power electronics community and a refresher training for those experienced in the industry as well.

In a previous blog, we examined the current collector busbars for the cylindrical cell in electric vehicles. Many of the electrical, mechanical and thermal requirements are also applicable to prismatic cells. However, the manner in which a battery pack in the vehicle is designed depends on the OEM´s preference.

During this time of uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic, we greatly appreciate the strong relationships that have been built over the last decades. We are focused and working hard to ensure that we continue to serve you through this evolving situation.

The copper grain size is an important property of Direct Bonded Copper (DBC) substrates. Variations in the copper grain size cannot be fully excluded, but large variations may affect the subsequent assembly processes or the performance of DBC substrates. Module manufacturers can rely on the experience and competence of Rogers' Power Electronics Solutions team to deliver substrates with a consistent grain size.

Thermal management is a challenge that the correct busbar can assist with, especially for cylindrical cell connections where the busbar may connect hundreds of cells to make a complete module.

Direct Bonded Copper (DBC) and Active Metal Brazed (AMB) substrates have been available for the last four decades. Together they have made a large contribution to the market adoption and penetration of power modules.

The beginning of a new year is a time for resolutions. It is also a perfect opportunity to discuss key principles to design custom Direct Bonded Copper (DBC) and Active Metal Brazed (AMB) substrates.

Information on ROLINX CapLink solutions: a complete integration of a laminated busbar and discrete film capacitor.

In today's blog you will find an interview with Sebastiaan De Boodt, who works for Rogers Corporation.

Olivier Mathieu talks about the design, internal structure and thermal performance of our micro channel liquid coolers.

In the last decade power electronics has gained importance with climate targets set to cut greenhouse gas emissions; therefore increasing renewable energy consumption. The new generation is aware of the environment and pollution challenges that our society is facing, motivating and attracting young engineers to study power electronics.

While silicon is the most common element used for power semiconductors, copper is the most popular choice for conductor traces on printed circuit boards (PCBs) and ceramic substrates due to its electrical conductivity.

Electronic systems rely on efficient combination and distribution of voltages and currents from different sources. In high-power applications, such as industrial drives, renewable energy inverters, powertrains for electric vehicles and converters used in rail, energy must be channeled with minimal power losses.

In a recent Olivier’s Twist blog, the topic of Silicon Carbide semiconductor materials was discussed for future high power efficiency applications. There is also another semiconductor technology that is filling a gap in performance between Silicon and Silicon Carbide, and that is Gallium Nitride.

Dominik Pawlik explains the details about laminated busbars, the advantages and where the busbars are used.

There is currently a lot of interest for silicon carbide (SiC) as a semiconductor material because its properties make it more promising than silicon for power electronics applications.

A Quick Introduction to ROLINX® Laminated Busbar Solutions, Dominik Pawlik explains the details about laminated busbars, the advantages and where the busbars are used.

Josh Goldberg takes you to the floor of the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to take a closer look at some of the technologies that will soon be entering our lives.

I recently participated in the Battery Show in Novi, Michigan where I gave a presentation during the conference on the connection of the battery cell for electric vehicles (EV). For those of you who could not attend, here is a short summary and my observations on this subject.

Who cares about flatness? Process and application engineers do! These are not flattering words as they truly know how critical it is to understand and control the shape of one’s substrate, base plate and heat sink in order to achieve the best possible production yield and module performance. In this blog, I want to share with you some information about flatness that you may wish to consider as you design or use power modules.

Design engineers are selecting Direct Bonded Copper (DBC) and Active Metal Brazed (AMB) substrates as circuit material for bare semiconductor chips in their power modules as they efficiently dissipate the waste heat from the semiconductors and increase the lifetime of the modules. In this blog, we explain the production process for power modules and highlight the most important characteristics of the substrates at each step of this assembly process.