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600V GenX3 XPT IGBTs Exhibit Improved Operating Characteristics

25th May 2012

IXYS

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Whitepaper

Engineers who design power conversion systems with discrete IGBTs usually select devices on the basis of performance and cost. Their emphasis is often on voltage ratings, packages, thermal performance data (TJM, RthJC and ZthJC), the device’s parameters (VCE (sat), Eon, Eoff) associated with power loss, and sometimes the SCSOA rating (usually for motor drive circuits).

However, other factors such as cooling, reliable performance in the field, the total cost of designing the board and the driving and protection of devices within applications, are frequently overlooked in the initial selection process.

During the last 3 to 4 years, several manufacturers of power semiconductors have introduced extremely efficient “Trench Field Stop” IGBTs. These IGBTs allow significant improvements in efficiency, because conduction and switching losses are greatly reduced in comparison to the industry offerings of a few years ago. Unfortunately, these improvements came at the expense of increased gate charge, reduced peak gate voltage, a reduced SCSOA rating, and more. Application scopes are limited for these new devices
when considering the costs of protecting IGBTs, driving them with high gate currents, applying meticulous attention to eliminating parasitic inductance in real-life circuits, and adding snubber circuits.

To continue reading please download the whitepaper.