Failure mechanism of trench IGBT under short-circuit after turn-off

A step by step methodology to analyze the IGBT failure mechanisms under short circuit and turn-off inductive conditions using 2D physically based device simulation

A systematic methodology is developed in order to clarify the punch through Trench Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (T-IGBT) failure mechanisms which can occur under extreme operating conditions such as short circuit and clamped inductive switching. By considering a 2D dimensional physically based device simulation, and by analyzing some T-IGBT physical parameters, it is possible to identify i...

Trench IGBT failure mechanisms evolution with temperature and gate resistance under various short-circuit conditions

Two extreme configurations under short circuit conditions leading to the punch through Trench IGBT failure under the effect of the temperature and the gate resistance have been studied. By analyzing internal physical parameters, it was highlighted that the elevation of the temperature causes an acceleration of the failure which is due to a thermal runaway phenomenon, whereas the influence of th...

Innovative Metal System for IGBT Press Pack Modules

Two important design aspects encountered in IGBT press pack modules used for HVDC applications are short circuit failure mode (SCFM) and intermittent operating life (IOL) capabilities. The requirement that press-pack IGBT (PPI) fail safely into a short causes a design conflict with the module’s desired capability to survive a high number of power cycles in normal operation. An innovative materi...

TCAD simulation of current filamentation in adjacent IGBT cells under turn-on and turn-off short circuit condition

Comparison of temperature limits for Trench silicon IGBT technologies for medium power applications

This work focuses on determining the switching limits in temperature for Reverse Conducting IGBTs and compares them to ‘‘conventional’’ IGBTs based on Trench technologies, all them belonging to 600 V–50 A application scenario. After, their leakage current under blocking state is tested at several working temperatures, in order to study the leakage current that limits the blocking safe operating...