A study of EST´s short-circuit SOA

Author

Iwamuro, N. ; Shekar, M.S. ; Baliga, B.J.

Author_Institution

Power Semiconductor Res. Center, North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC, USA

fYear

1993

fDate

18-20 May 1993

Firstpage

71

Lastpage

76

Abstract

Forward-biased safe operating area (FBSOA) at a short-circuit state of 600-V and 2500-V emitter-switched thyristors (ESTs) is reported. It is numerically demonstrated that the EST offers a better FBSOA than the insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT). The EST exhibits a current saturation because in the short-circuit state, this device operates like an IGBT due to the pinch-off of the lateral N-MOSFET. There are two types of destructive failure mechanisms: one is due to avalanche multiplication while the other is attributed to latch-up of the parasitic thyristor. It is concluded that the EST exhibits a wider FBSOA than an IGBT because of a homogeneous current flow

Keywords

semiconductor device testing; semiconductor switches; short-circuit currents; thyristors; 2500 V; 600 V; MOS-controlled thyristor; avalanche multiplication; current saturation; destructive failure mechanisms; emitter-switched thyristors; forward-biased SOA; homogeneous current flow; latch-up; parasitic thyristor; short-circuit SOA; Anodes; Cathodes; Current density; Insulated gate bipolar transistors; Low voltage; MOSFETs; Motor drives; Protection; Semiconductor optical amplifiers; Thyristors;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs, 1993. ISPSD '93., Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on

Conference_Location

Monterey, CA

ISSN

1063-6854

Print_ISBN

0-7803-1313-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ISPSD.1993.297110

Filename

297110