Title :
IGBTs conducting diode-like surge currents
Author :
Basler, Thomas ; Lutz, Josef ; Jakob, Roland
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Power Electron. & EMC, Chemnitz Univ. of Technol., Chemnitz, Germany
Abstract :
For special failure cases it would be of advantage, if the IGBT can conduct very high currents (surge currents) in the same way as bipolar diodes or thyristors. This paper shows that IGBTs can have a great surge-current capability at higher gate voltages. The limiting short-circuit current of the IGBT is shifted to high values to prevent desaturation. Measurements and simulations will show that the temperature rise during a typical 10 ms sine-shape surge-current pulse is still in controllable ranges, especially when double-side cooling is applied. It will be presented that at surge-current condition the internal IGBT behaviour changes to a diode-like one. Destructions and significant gateoxide ageing can be suppressed, if the gate voltage is adjusted to suitable values.
Keywords :
ageing; cooling; insulated gate bipolar transistors; short-circuit currents; IGBT; double-side cooling; gate oxide ageing; insulated gate bipolar transistors; limiting short-circuit current; sine-shape surge-current pulse; surge current capability; Current measurement; Insulated gate bipolar transistors; Logic gates; Semiconductor diodes; Surges; Temperature measurement; Voltage measurement;
Conference_Titel :
Power Semiconductor Devices & IC's (ISPSD), 2014 IEEE 26th International Symposium on
Conference_Location :
Waikoloa, HI
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4799-2917-7
DOI :
10.1109/ISPSD.2014.6855986
