Study on Electrothermal Characteristics of the Reverse-Conducting IGBT (RC-IGBT)

The reverse-conducting IGBT RC-IGBT is a new structure device, which integrates an IGBT chip and a fast recovery diode (FRD) chip on a single chip. Compared with traditional IGBT, the RC-IGBT has many advantages such as high power density, small size, high reliability and low cost. However, its complex structure and process, as well as snap-back effect during forward conduction, lead to a different electrothermal characteristics from traditional IGBT. In this paper, we study the electrothermal characteristics of RC-IGBT under four modes. The first is the temperature-sensitive characteristic analysis under constant small current mode. The second is the temperature-sensitive characteristic analysis under single-pulse high current mode. The third is the thermal resistance junction to case (R
thjc
) measurement of steady-state under constant high current mode. The last is the thermal resistance junction to case (R
thjc
) measurement of steady-state under the sequential pulse mode. The electro thermal characteristics test results of the RC-IGBT under four modes are discussed and compared with traditional IGBT.