A Method to Extract the Accurate Junction Temperature of an IGCT During Conduction Using Gate–Cathode Voltage

In this paper, we propose a novel method to extract the accurate junction temperature of an integrated gate commutated thyristor (IGCT) during device conduction (on-state mode), by measuring the gate-cathode voltage of the device. We have shown that the gate-cathode voltage is a function of anode current and junction temperature T
_vj
. Indeed, the gate-cathode voltage of the device can be easily accessed in real-time operation of the device from its gate-unit without the need of any external power supply or thermal sensors. The method has been tested by both the simulations (semiconductor device simulations) and experiments (static and load cycling tests) for two different types of IGCTs. This method will enable us to continuously monitor the T
_vj
of the device during real-time operation of the power electronic converter, and hence, to predict and evaluate the remaining lifetime of the device.