Next Generation LV Trench IGBT Design Featuring Plasma-Flow Control for Improved Switching Losses and Turn-on dV/dt Controllability

This paper presents a new generation low voltage (1200 V, 150 A) trench gate IGBT design featuring a novel plasma-flow control (PFC) concept for improved switching losses, turn-on dV/dt controllability and enhanced protection against dynamic avalanche as compared to a conventional IGBT design. The impact of different PFC efficiencies on device turn-on controllability, technology trade-off curve and short circuit oscillations has been investigated by means of detailed TCAD simulations and electrical measurements. The incorporation of the PFC feature in our design serves to significantly improve the IGBT turn-on controllability with respect to gate resistance, Rg−on. Moreover, the PFC feature was also found to be helpful in minimizing oscillations and overshoot in the short-circuit (SC) current. Finally, the observed trends in the key performance parameters of IGBT device with varying PFC efficiencies are analyzed and discussed for optimized performance for a given application.