This paper proposes a calorimetric method for measuring the switching losses of fast power semiconductors having the following main features: switching loss measurement under real operating conditions; same driving circuitry as in the real application; both soft-switching and hard-switching test conditions; accurate estimation of device’s conduction losses with no need to know the internal junction temperature; calibration phase to partially compensate for thermal setup non idealities; no need for a precise thermal model of the measurement setup. Experimental measurements, taken on power MOSFETs, prove the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
