4.5kV press pack IGBT designed for ruggedness and reliability

A novel press pack IGBT (PPI) with a rating of up to 4500 V and 2000 A is presented. During the development of this new component, special emphasis was placed on the ease of use by system manufacturers. The mechanical design is optimized in order to facilitate the clamping of the PPI in long stacks. Even if the clamping in the stack has severe pressure nonuniformities, the PPI remains fully functional due to its unique design with individual press-pins for each chip. Furthermore, the choice of materials is optimized to achieve high reliability in the field. The trade-off between power-cycling capability and operation under shorted conditions was a major thrust of the development. The IGBT as well as the diode chip are based on SPT (soft punch through) technology. Together with an advanced planar cell design of the IGBT and the sophisticated lifetime engineering of the diode, this chip set offers an unprecedented safe operating area (SOA). This greatly facilitates system design by making clamps or snubbers obsolete.