The invention is characterized by the device design setting the device saturation current below the latch-up current, which triggers the parasitic thyristor. invented the device design concept of non-latch-up IGBTs in 1984. The device had an overall similar structure to Baliga's earlier IGBT device reported in 1979, as well as a similar title. The patent claimed that "no thyristor action occurs under any device operating conditions". Wheatley developed a similar device, for which they filed a patent application in 1980, and which they referred to as "power MOSFET with an anode region". IGBTs had, thus, been established when the complete suppression of the latch-up of the parasitic thyristor was achieved as described in the following. The development of IGBT was characterized by the efforts to completely suppress the thyristor operation or the latch-up in the four-layer device because the latch-up caused the fatal device failure. The IGBT mode of operation in the four-layer device (SCR) switched to thyristor operation if the collector current exceeded the latch-up current, which is known as "holding current" in the well known theory of the thyristor.
Plummer filed a patent application for this mode of operation in the four-layer device (SCR) in 1978. Plummer with their lateral four-layer device (SCR) in 1978. Īn MOS-controlled triac device was reported by B. The device structure was referred to as a "V-groove MOSFET device with the drain region replaced by a p-type anode region" in this paper and subsequently as "the insulated-gate rectifier" (IGR), the insulated-gate transistor (IGT), the conductivity-modulated field-effect transistor (COMFET) and "bipolar-mode MOSFET". The results of the experiments were reported in 1979. He began fabricating the IGBT device with the assistance of Margaret Lazeri at GE in 1978 and successfully completed the project in 1979. Jayant Baliga submitted a patent disclosure at General Electric (GE) in 1977 describing a power semiconductor device with the IGBT mode of operation, including the MOS gating of thyristors, a four-layer VMOS (V-groove MOSFET) structure, and the use of MOS-gated structures to control a four-layer semiconductor device. įollowing the commercialization of power MOSFETs in the 1970s, B. Akagiri of Mitsubishi Electric in the Japanese patent S47-21739, which was filed in 1968. The basic IGBT mode of operation, where a pnp transistor is driven by a MOSFET, was first proposed by K. Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs in 1959. The metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) was invented by Mohamed M. This additional p+ region creates a cascade connection of a PNP bipolar junction transistor with the surface n-channel MOSFET. IGBT comparison table Device characteristicĭevice structure Cross-section of a typical IGBT showing internal connection of MOSFET and bipolar deviceĪn IGBT cell is constructed similarly to an n-channel vertical-construction power MOSFET, except the n+ drain is replaced with a p+ collector layer, thus forming a vertical PNP bipolar junction transistor. As of 2010, the IGBT was the second most widely used power transistor, after the power MOSFET. In switching applications modern devices feature pulse repetition rates well into the ultrasonic-range frequencies, which are at least ten times higher than audio frequencies handled by the device when used as an analog audio amplifier. Since it is designed to turn on and off rapidly, the IGBT can synthesize complex waveforms with pulse-width modulation and low-pass filters, thus it is also used in switching amplifiers in sound systems and industrial control systems. It is used in switching power supplies in high-power applications: variable-frequency drives (VFDs), Uninterruptible Power Supply Systems (UPS), electric cars, trains, variable-speed refrigerators, lamp ballasts, arc-welding machines, induction hobs, and air conditioners. It consists of four alternating layers (P–N–P–N) that are controlled by a metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) gate structure.Īlthough the structure of the IGBT is topologically similar to a thyristor with a "MOS" gate ( MOS-gate thyristor), the thyristor action is completely suppressed, and only the transistor action is permitted in the entire device operation range. It was developed to combine high efficiency with fast switching. IGBT module (IGBTs and freewheeling diodes) with a rated current of 1200 A and a maximum voltage of 3300 VĪn insulated-gate bipolar transistor ( IGBT) is a three-terminal power semiconductor device primarily forming an electronic switch.
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