Developing a simple analytical thermal model for discrete semiconductor in operating condition

•A behavioral thermal model of discrete power semiconductor packages is presented.•We have presented a simple analytical method for the evaluation of the transient response of semiconductor packages.•We have developed an RC thermal model that is compatible with circuit simulators.•Numerical simulations and experiments are performed to validate the proposed model.•This model is able to determine the temperature in normal operation and in case of short circuit.

The paper covers a useful and analytical method for users of power semiconductor devices to procure dynamic thermal models of semiconductor packages. The estimation of thermal parameters of power electronic devices has generally been performed using transient thermal equivalent circuits. This study leads to correct the junction temperature values estimated from the transient thermal impedance. The correction is dependent on multidimensional thermal phenomena in the structure. A 1D thermal model based on the analytical method is proposed. It takes into account the effect of the heat spreading angle in the device and the main thermal temperature related to non-linearities of package layers. This model of semiconductors is able to determine the temperature in normal operation and in case of a short circuit. The experimental investigation has allowed the validation of our proposed model.