What is meant by a thermal runaway or the thermal damage of power semiconductors: A thermal runaway refers to the overheating of a technical apparatus due to a self-reinforcing process that generates heat. This damage usually causes the destruction of the apparatus and often leads to a fire or explosion.
Causes
The causes of a thermal runaway are varied and often random in nature. However, the ever-higher power density in electronic wiring and the trend towards miniaturization are without a doubt of particular importance. More and more functions are packed in compact modules, which then also have a correspondingly high power consumption.Even slightly excessive currents in power electronics with only a little power loss lead to elevated temperatures of approximately 200°C.The possible consequences: damage or disconnection of surrounding com- ponents, damage to the printed circuit board structure or, in the worst case, the triggering of a fire.
Build up
With a power semiconductor (e.g. MOSFET) the drain-source transmission resistance increases with rising temperatures, when connected, which results in an increasing loss of power in the barrier layer. If the elements are not sufficiently cooled - the high power density permits cooling - the power loss output in the form of heat can no longer be sufficiently dissipated, which also increases the transmission resistance. This process escalates and ultimately leads to destruction of the component.
How to protect against a short circuit?
The cooling of a system must dissipate at least as much energy as it is supplied with. The overcurrent during a thermal runaway is too low to cause a conventional fuse to trip. Thermal circuit breakers or PTCs would, in principle, be used, but the products available for the assembly of an SMD printed circuit board are too complicated or completely unsuitable.
Solution
SCHURTER have developed and manufactured the RTS Reflow Thermal Switch. The RTS can be reflow soldered @ 260°C after which it is mechanically activated and can still effectively trip at 210°C. The RTS is optimised for standard SMD processes like pick and place other features include:
- High operating current up to 100 A
- High rated voltage 60 VDC à competition is limited to 16 VDC
- Low resistance: 120µOhm
- Very high Breaking Capacity
