Optimized 1200 V silicon trench IGBTs with silicon carbide Schottky diodes

This paper describes the performance of 1200 V silicon (Si) trench IGBTs and silicon carbide (SiC) Schottky freewheeling diodes (FWD) optimized for motor drive applications. The power loss and related voltage and current stress on the Si trench IGBTs and SiC Schottky FWDs are evaluated using a half-bridge test circuit. The optimized trench IGBT exhibits a 30% reduction in the total power loss as compared to state-of-the-art planar Si IGBTs with comparable short-circuit safe operating areas (SCSOA). An additional 30% reduction in total power loss is achieved by replacing conventional Si P+W diodes with SIC Schottky FWDs, mainly due to a 20× reduction in the reverse recovery charge. Furthermore, the SiC Schottky FWD significantly reduces the voltage and current stress on the IGBTs because of a 6× reduction in the peak reverse recovery current as compared to Si P+IN FWDs. In this paper we present the optimal design for 1200 V Si trench IGBTs with good SCSOA and a p-n junction barrier controlled SiC Schottky FWD with a low forward voltage drop of 1.74 V at 150 A/cm² and excellent reverse blocking capability with a low leakage current of 350 μA/cm ² at 1200 V