Potentials, Limitations, and Trends in High Voltage Silicon Power Semiconductors Devices

摘要

Over the past 15-20 years, high voltage silicon power devices have evolved to powerful & reliable components. As a consequence, they have found many applications, mainly in the fields of industrial drives, power generation, transmission & distribution, and transportation. For voltage ratings exceeding 1000V, two device concepts have established themselves, namely the IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor), and the IGCT (Integrated Gate-Commutated Thyristor). This paper reviews the state of these devices and elaborates on their potentials in terms of higher voltages, higher power density, and better switching performance.