| Abstract |
The field of high power applications has recently experienced a strong push from advances in device development. On one hand, Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT) in the form of hybrid modules are continuously increasing their limits in current(~ 1800 A) and voltage (up to 4500 V). In the highly demanding market of traction applications, reliability has become one of the crucial issues,
however. On the other hand, based on the classical Gate-Turn-Off thyristor
{GTO), a new element has been conceived, called the Integrated Gate
Commutated Switch (IGCT). This device implies lower losses due to reduced
thickness, a rigorously reduced stray inductance of the gate circuit, combined with a gate drive unit implemented into the structure as well as an integrated antiparallel diode. Applying a hard gate drive (hard driven GTO) opens the way to high voltages (> 1 0 kV) by means of multiple series connection as well as to reduced losses due to snubberless operation. These two approaches are compared and found to be complementary. At medium power, the IGBT is the preferred solution whereas the IGCT is expected to dominate at high power(> 1 MW). Trends for the technological development in the near future will be given. |
