The Past, Present, and Future of The Past, Present, and Future of IGBT TechnologyIGBT Technology

John Shen

Grainger Endowed Chair Professor Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Illinois Institute of TechnologyChicago, USA

johnshen@ieee.org

April 7, 2014

OutlineOutline

Applications and market of power semiconductor devices History of IGBT Technology Very high power IGBTs Future trends of IGBT technology Summary

2

Application of Power SemiconductorsApplication of Power Semiconductors

Silicon limit

3

Wide Bandgap Semiconductors

Frequency [Hz]

100M

10M

1M

100k

10k

1k

100

100 1k 10k 100k 1M

Po

wer

[V

A]

BJT

10M

MOSFET

100M

Thyristors

IGBT(Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor)

Power IC

Worldwide Market of Power SemiconductorsWorldwide Market of Power Semiconductors

4

$14.1B of discrete power devices in 2010 (Yano and IMS)

2008 market data from iSupply

Market Segments of Power SemiconductorsMarket Segments of Power Semiconductors

5

OutlineOutline

Applications and market of power semiconductor devices History of IGBT Technology Very high power IGBTs Future trends of IGBT technology Summary

6

History of IGBT Technology History of IGBT Technology

7

1980

1990

2000

2010

PT-IGBT by GE and RCA

Toshiba solved latch-up issue

Everyone is on PT-IGBT

Siemens’ NPT-IGBT

Trench IGBT

Toshiba’s IEGT (or 4500V IGBT)

IGBT Power Module

Everyone is on thin wafer Field-Stop IGBT

Mitsubishi’s CS-IGBT

IGBT Press-Pack

Theoretical limit of IGBT

SiC IGBT

Wafer scale IGBT

Nano-IGBT

MCT

Design Trade-off of IGBTDesign Trade-off of IGBT

8

IGBT turn-off

IGBT turn-on

Improved Conductivity Modulation of IGBTImproved Conductivity Modulation of IGBT

9

N-N+ P+

N-

PiN Diode

P+

N- P+

ConventionalIGBT

EnhancedIGBT

Resistive Bottleneck

Carrier Distribution

Improved Conductivity Modulation of IGBTImproved Conductivity Modulation of IGBT

10

M. Rahimo et al. 2006

Trench Gate IGBT ConceptTrench Gate IGBT Concept

11

Shen & Omura, Proceedings of the IEEE, April 2007

Thin Wafer Field Stop IGBT ConceptThin Wafer Field Stop IGBT Concept

12

Shen & Omura, Proceedings of the IEEE, April 2007

Evolution of 1200VEvolution of 1200V Thin Wafer IGBTsThin Wafer IGBTs

13

1995300 m

2008100 m

1999185 m

2001128 m

J. Vobecky, ISPSd2008

J. Vobeckt, ISPSD2008

IGBT Performance TrendIGBT Performance Trend

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1980 1990 2000 2010

GE

东芝三菱

Infineon（Siemens）ONSEMI (Motorola)

STMicroelectronics

Fairchild (Samsung)

富士电机

14

Specific RDS(ON)=Vce(on)/Current Density

R DS(

ON

) (m

Ω-c

m2 )

EOFF ~ 0.1mJ/A , Vcc= 600V

1200V IGBT @125oC

Toshiba

Mitsubishi

Fuji Electric

OutlineOutline

Applications and market of power semiconductor devices History of IGBT Technology Very high power IGBTs Future trends of IGBT technology Summary

15

Very High Power IGBTsVery High Power IGBTs

3300/4500/6500V， 500-5000A MV voltage source inverters（ replacing GTO or IGCT)

16

New steel mill installations（ TMEC 2012 ）

Applications of High Power IGBTsApplications of High Power IGBTs

HVDC light FACTS MV drives (wind

generators, PV, oil & gas pumps, etc.)

17

（ Source： ABB ）

Topologies of HP-IGBT ConvertersTopologies of HP-IGBT Converters

Cascade H-bridge NPC-MLC IGBT series-

connection

18

Expanding the Power Range of IGBTExpanding the Power Range of IGBT

19

Silicon limit

Wide Bandgap Semiconductors

Frequency [Hz]

100M

10M

1M

100k

10k

1k

100

100 1k 10k 100k 1M

Po

wer

[V

A]

BJT

10M

MOSFET

100M

GTO

IGBT(Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor)

Power IC

HP-IGBT

Technical Barrier of HP-IGBTTechnical Barrier of HP-IGBT

IGBT chip size <2cm2， current rating <150A, much more sensitive to defects than GTO

Multi-chip IGBT power modules parallel IGBT chips through bondwires with a current and thermal capability inferior to pressure pack GTO

20

Parallel IGBT chips in power modules Wafer scale thyristors

Concept of Wafer Scale IGBTsConcept of Wafer Scale IGBTs

21

发射极电极

集电极电极

陶瓷外壳

门电极外引线门电极弹簧针

发射极金属垫片

集电极金属垫片

整晶圆IGBT

Emitter Gate

Emitter Pad

Ceramic Casing

Collector Collector Pad

IGBT Wafer

Gate SpringContact Pin

Laser TrimmerCollector

Emitter 1

Gate

IGBTZone 1

Defective IGBT Zone

Isolation of DefectiveZones with laser trimming

OutlineOutline

Applications and market of power semiconductor devices History of IGBT Technology Very high power IGBTs Future trends of IGBT technology Summary

22

Theoretical Limit of IGBT PerformanceTheoretical Limit of IGBT Performance

23（ A. Nakagawa 2006 ）

Nanoscale IGBT StructureNanoscale IGBT Structure

24

（M. Sumitomo, 2012 ）

Superjunction Superjunction IGBTIGBT

25

（ K. Oh et al 2006 ）

1200V IGBT simulation

SiC SiC IGBTIGBT

15000V， 24 mΩ-cm2 ， 4H-SiC P-IGBT 12500V， 5.3 mΩ-cm2 ， 4H-SiC N-IGBT

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（ Cree 2012 ）

SummarySummary

IGBT is the device of choice for medium power applications

We have not reached the theoretical limit of the fundamental silicon IGBT structure yet even after 30 years of amazing technology advancement!

Still a lot of potential and return of investment in silicon (and BWG) power device research!

Emerging opportunity to push IGBT into megawatt (1-100MW) high power applications

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