High dV/dt controllability of 1.2kV Si-TCIGBT for high flexibility design with ultra-low loss operation

High dV/dt controllability of IGBT is an important factor for flexible design as well as low switching loss in power electronics systems. However, Dynamic Avalanche (DA) phenomenon poses a fundamental limit on their dV/dt control range, operating current density, turn-off power loss as well as reliability. Overcoming this phenomenon is essential to ensure their safe operation and high robustness in emerging electric transport. In this work, detailed analysis of 1.2 kV trench gated IGBTs is undertaken through experiments and calibrated TCAD 3-dimensional simulations to show the fundamental cause of the low dV/dt controllability of conventional IGBTs and a method to achieve DA free design by Trench Clustered IGBT (TCIGBT). The potential of TCIGBT for ultra-high current density operation with high dV/dt controllability is also presented.