A Lumped-Charge Model for High-Power PT-p-i-n Diode With a Buffer Layer

This paper presents a lumped-charge model for the punchthrough p-i-n (PT-p-i-n) diode with a buffer layer. Based on the lumped-charge modeling, this paper analyzes the influence of the buffer layer and carrier lifetime control technology. The PT-p-i-n diode model involves dealing with changes in the diode doping concentration and carrier lifetime in the switching process. The variation of carrier lifetime with the injected charge is discussed and a lumped-charge model of carrier lifetime is proposed. Considering that the characteristics of p-i-n diode are changed with temperatures, the model uses the added temperature function of physical parameters to get the static and transient temperature characteristics. Then the model is implemented into the circuit simulation platform PSPICE. Finally, the antiparallel freewheeling diode in the Infineon 3300 V/1500 A Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor module is used for verification. The comparisons between the simulated and measured results have a good agreement both in static and in switching operations at different temperatures.