Power devices for medium voltage PWM converters

The accelerated pace of change in semiconductor power devices, has been remarkable, and the number of power devices described in the literature is staggering and can be bewildering to both power device specialists and power electronics equipment designers. The high-voltage insulated gate bipolar transistor and the integrated gate commutated thyristor are identified as best suited for medium-voltage pulsewidth modulated voltage source inverter stack design. These devices are examined from the viewpoint of power electronics applications.