Rated overload Characteristics of IGBTs for low-voltage and high-voltage devices

By a vertical shrink of the nonpunchthrough insulated gate bipolar transistor (NPT IGBT) to a structure with a thin n-base and a low-doped field stop layer a new IGBT can be realized with drastically reduced overall losses. In particular, the combination of the field stop concept with the trench transistor cell results in an almost ideal carrier concentration for a device with minimum on-state voltage and lowest switching losses. This concept has been developed for IGBTs and diodes from 600 V up to 6.5 kV. While the tradeoff behavior (on-state voltage V_CEsat or V_F to tail charge) and the overall ruggedness (short circuit, positive temperature coefficient in V_CEsat, temperature independence in tail charge, etc.) is independent of voltage and current ratings the switching characteristics of the lower voltage parts (blocking voltage V_Br<2 kV) is different in handling to the high-voltage transistors (V_Br>2kV). With the HE-EMCON diode and the new field stop NPT IGBT up to 1700 V there is almost no limitation in the switching behavior, however, there are some considerations-a certain value in the external gate resistor has to be taken. High-voltage parts usually have lower current density compared to low-voltage transistors so that the "dynamic" electrical field strength is more critical in high-voltage diodes and IGBTs.