Short-Circuit Destruction of Field-Stop-Structure Inslated Gate Bipolar Transistor

• Published in: Japanese Journal of Applied Physics Vol. 43; no. 9R; p. 5973
• Main Authors: Yoshikawa, Koh, Koga, Takeharu, Fujii, Takeshi, Nishiura, Akira, Matsuda, Akinori, Matsumoto, Takashi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-09-2004
• ISSN: 0021-4922; 1347-4065
• DOI: 10.1143/JJAP.43.5973

Numerical and experimental results of the field stop (FS) and lifetime control (LC) IGBT short-circuit characteristics using 4500 V-class devices are described. During the short-circuit condition, avalanche breakdown occurs along the base/FS layer interface. This is because the strength of the electric field becomes high due to the increase in the majority carrier concentration, which is larger than the impurity concentration in the base layer. The lower current gain in the device results in a higher electric field. It can be concluded that FS-IGBT has a narrower short circuit safety operating area (SCSOA) than other devices. Particularly, this phenomenon is easy to show on the high-voltage-class device, such as a 4.5 kV IGBT, because its impurity concentration in the base layer is low.