September 2006

Operation of a Transistor Driver under Extreme Temperatures

and Thermal Cycling

Richard Patterson, NASA Glenn Research Center, U.S.A.

Ahmad Hammoud, QSS Group, Inc. / NASA GRC, U.S.A.

**Scope of Work**

The performance of a high voltage transistor driver was evaluated under
extreme temperatures. The International Rectifier IR2110 is a high speed
power MOSFET and IGBT driver with independent high and low side
referenced output channels. A floating channel is designed for bootstrap
operation, and can be used to drive an N-channel power MOSFET or IGBT in
the high side configuration with voltages as high as 500 volts \[1\].
The device is tolerant to negative transient voltages, and is rated for
temperature operation between -40 C and + 125 C. Table I shows some of
the device manufacturer's specifications.

Table I. Specifications of the IR2110 driver \[1\].

  -------------------------------------------------- --------------------
  **Parameter (Unit)**                               **Rating**

  Output Voltage, V~OUT~ (V)                         10 to 20

  Output Current, I~O~ (A)                           2

  Offset Voltage, V~OFFSET~ (V)                      500

  Turn-On Propagation Delay, t~on~ (ns)              120

  Turn-Off Propagation Delay, t~off~ (ns)            94

  Temperature Range, T (°C)                          -40 to +125

  Package                                            14-Lead PDIP

  Lot \#                                             0146
  -------------------------------------------------- --------------------

The driver was configured in a circuit, as shown in Figure 1, to drive a
resistive load using IRFP360 MOSFETs as the low and high side switches.
The driver chip was characterized in terms of its high side gate drive
output (HO), low side gate drive output (LO), outputs rise-time,
fall-time, and turn-on delay time as a function of temperature between
+100 C and --195 C using a liquid nitrogen-cooled environmental chamber.
During this evaluation, the driver chip along with the diode and the
bootstrap capacitor were subjected to temperature variation; while the
biasing resistors and the two switches were kept at room temperature
outside the chamber. Cold-restart capability, i.e. power switched on
while the device was at a temperature of -195 C, was also investigated.
In addition, the effects of thermal cycling under a wide temperature
range on the operation of this high speed driver were determined. The
circuit was exposed to a total of 10 cycles between ‑195 C and +100 C at
a temperature rate of 10 C/minute. Following the thermal cycling,
circuit measurements were then performed at the test temperatures of
+20, ‑195, and +100C. A 12V, 1 kHz square wave signal was used to drive
the logic inputs of both the high side and low side gate driver outputs.

![](media/image1.wmf){width="5.6715277777777775in"
height="2.152083333333333in"}

Figure 1. Schematic of test circuit of the IR2110 driver \[1\].

**Results and Discussion**

*Temperature Effects*

The logic input HIN, high side output HO, and low side output LO
waveforms of the IR2110 driver obtained at room temperature are shown in
Figure 2. These waveforms were also obtained at test temperatures of
-50, -100, -150, -195, and +100 °C. No major distortion was observed in
these waveforms as test temperature was changed throughout the range of
-195 °C to +100 °C. For illustrative purposes, only those waveforms
obtained at the extreme temperatures, i.e. -195 °C and +100 °C are
presented here as shown in Figures 3 and 4, respectively. While the
change in test temperature did not produce any noticeable effect on
either the rise-time or the fall-time of the gate drive outputs, the
turn-on delay time, t~on~, however exhibited slight dependency on test
temperature. This turn-on delay time (t~on~) is defined as the interval
between 50% of the rising edge of the HIN signal and 10% of the rising
gated output, i.e. HO or LO. Figure 5 shows the turn-on delay time as a
function of temperature. It can be seen that while t~on~ exhibited
initially a slight decrease with decrease in temperature from room to
about -150 °C, this trend was reversed as t~on~ began to increase upon
further cooling of the device in the cryogenic temperature range between
-150 °C and -195 °C. At the high test temperature of +100 °C, the value
of t~on~ was higher than its room temperature value. It is important to
note that the temperature-induced changes in t~on~ were not significant
and complete recovery occurred once the thermal stress was removed.

![](media/image2.png){width="3.9305555555555554in"
height="2.598611111111111in"}

Figure 2. Waveforms of logic input HIN(1), high side output HO(2), and
low side output LO(3) at +20 °C.

![](media/image3.png){width="3.908333333333333in"
height="2.502083333333333in"}

Figure 3. Waveforms of logic input HIN(1), high side output HO(2), and
low side output LO(3) at -195 °C.

![](media/image4.png){width="3.911111111111111in"
height="2.4965277777777777in"}

Figure 4. Waveforms of logic input HIN(1), high side output HO(2), and
low side output LO(3) at +100 °C.

![](media/image5.wmf)

Figure 5. Variation in the turn-on delay time with temperature.

*Cold Re-Start*

Cold-restart capability of the IR2110 driver was investigated by
allowing the device to soak at -195 °C for at least 20 minutes without
the application of supply voltage or trigger signal. Power was then
applied, and measurements were taken on the output characteristics. The
driver chip was able to successfully cold-restart at -195 °C, and the
results obtained were the same as those obtained earlier at that
temperature.

*Effects of Thermal Cycling*

The effects of thermal cycling under a wide temperature range on the
operation of the IR2110 driver chip were investigated by subjecting it
to a total of 10 cycles between -195 °C and +100 °C at a temperature
rate of 10 °C/minute. The logic input HIN, high side output HO, and low
side output LO waveforms were then recorded at +20, -195, and +100 °C.
Comparisons of these waveforms for pre- and post-cycling conditions are
shown in Figures 6, 7, and 8 at test temperatures of +20, -195, and +100
°C, respectively. It can be clearly seen that the post-cycling waveforms
at any given test temperature were the same as those obtained prior to
cycling. Also, the results pertaining to pre- and post-cycling turn-on
delay time (t~on~) were almost the same as depicted in Figure 9.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the extreme temperature exposure and
the thermal cycling did not induce much change in the behavior of this
driver. This limited thermal cycling also appeared to have no effect on
the structural integrity of this device as no structural deterioration
or packaging damage was observed.

![](media/image2.png){width="2.8944444444444444in"
height="2.452777777777778in"}

Pre-cycling

![](media/image6.png){width="2.9in" height="2.453472222222222in"}

Post-cycling

Figure 6. Pre- and post-cycling waveforms of logic input HIN(1), high
side

output HO(2), and low side output LO(3) at +20 °C.

![](media/image3.png){width="2.9006944444444445in"
height="2.4493055555555556in"}

Pre-cycling

![](media/image7.png){width="2.8958333333333335in"
height="2.448611111111111in"}

Post-cycling

Figure 7. Pre- and post-cycling waveforms of logic input HIN(1), high
side

output HO(2), and low side output LO(3) at -195 °C.

![](media/image4.png){width="2.9in" height="2.45in"}

Pre-cycling

![](media/image8.png){width="2.8944444444444444in"
height="2.4506944444444443in"}

Post-cycling

Figure 8. Pre- and post-cycling waveforms of logic input HIN(1), high
side

output HO(2), and low side output LO(3) at +100 °C.

![](media/image9.wmf)

Figure 9. Pre- and post-cycling turn-on delay time as a function of
temperature.

**Conclusions**

The performance of a high voltage, high speed power MOSFET and IGBT
driver with independent high and low side referenced output channels was
evaluated under extreme temperatures. The International Rectifier IR2110
driver chip was characterized in terms of its high side gate drive
output (HO), low side gate drive output (LO), outputs rise-time,
fall-time, and turn-on delay time as a function of temperature between
+100 C and --195 C. The effects of thermal cycling under a wide
temperature range on the operation of this device and cold-restart
capability were also investigated. The IR2110 driver was able to
maintain good operation between -195 °C and +100 °C with minimal changes
in its output characteristics. The limited thermal cycling performed on
this part had no effect on either its performance or packaging, and it
was able to cold start successfully at -195 °C. These preliminary
results indicate that these IR2110 low and high side driver chips could
be potentially used in space exploration missions under cryogenic
environments. Further testing under long-term cycling is, however,
recommended to fully establish the reliability of such devices and to
determine their suitability for extended use in extreme temperature
environments.

**References**

1.  International Rectifier, "IR2110/IR2113 High and Low Side Driver",
    Data sheet No. PD60147 rev. U, 3/23/05.

**Acknowledgments**

This work was performed under the NASA Glenn Research Center GESS
Contract \# NAS3-00145. Funding was provided from the NASA Electronic
Parts and Packaging (NEPP) Program Task "Reliability of SiGe, SOI, and
Advanced Mixed Signal Devices for Cryogenic Power Electronics".