Modeling of IGBT Resistive and Inductive Turn-On Behavior L. Lu, S.G. Pytel, E. Santi A.T. Bryant J.L. Hudgins P.R. Palmer Department of Electrical Engineering University of South Carolina Columbia, SC 29208 santi@engr.sc.edu Department of Engineering University of Cambridge Trumpington Street Cambridge, UK CB2 1PZ a.t.bryant.97@cantab.net Department of Electrical Engineering University of Nebraska Lincoln, NE 68588-0511 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of British Columbia 2356 Main Mall Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 Canada Abstract— Although IGBT turn on losses can be comparable to turn off losses, IGBT turn on has not been as thoroughly studied in the literature. In the present work IGBT turn on under resistive and inductive load conditions is studied in detail through experiments, finite element simulations, and circuit simulations using physics-based semiconductor models. Under resistive load conditions, it is critical to accurately model the conductivity modulation phenomenon. Under clamped inductive load conditions at turn-on there is strong interaction between the IGBT and the freewheeling diode undergoing reverse recovery. Physics-based IGBT and diode models are used that have been proved accurate in the simulation of IGBT turn-off. Keywords: IGBT turn-on, interaction, modeling I. INTRODUCTION Accurate IGBT models are desirable in order to simulate switching waveforms and estimate device stresses, and switching and conduction losses in converter applications. A complete physics-based electro-thermal IGBT circuit simulator model has been presented recently [1,2]. Its high accuracy has been validated for various IGBT structures, including punchthrough (PT), non-punch-through (NPT), light-punch-through and field-stop (FS). Its usefulness is enhanced by a practical parameterization procedure and reasonable simulation speed [3]. Usually in the study of IGBTs, the attention is focused on the turn-off behavior, since the IGBT current tail causes significant losses. The IGBT usually operates under hard switching (clamped inductive load) conditions. Therefore, validation for the physics-based model has been performed in this environment. Device manufacturers have expended significant effort to reduce current tail losses, using techniques such as lifetime control in the buffer layer to optimize device characteristics. On the other hand, IGBT turn-on losses can be significant, due to the diode reverse recovery, and may be comparable to turnoff losses. IGBT turn-on behavior so far has received scarce attention in previous literature. The effect of diode and IGBT interaction on total device losses has been noted in [4], and some investigation of IGBT turn-on has been presented in [5]. This work was supported by the U.S. Office of Naval Research under Grant N00014-02-1-0623. In this work the physics-based IGBT model is used to simulate turn-on behavior under resistive and clamped inductive switching conditions. Accurate modeling of IGBT turn-on behavior is challenging and the demands that this type of simulation makes on a model are different from those made by turn-off simulation. For resistive switching it is essential to model accurately the conductivity modulation process at turn-on. This causes a “voltage tail” in the voltage waveform. For inductive turn-on, besides the conductivity modulation process, there is a strong interaction between the IGBT that is turning on and the diode that is undergoing reverse recovery. For this reason it is necessary to use accurate physics-based models for both the IGBT and diode. In section II the physics-based IGBT model is briefly reviewed. In section III IGBT turn-on behaviour is discussed in detail. Finite element simulations are used to provide guidance to indicate which phenomena are important and to help identify shortcomings in the analytic models used. Experimental validation of the model under inductive and resistive switching conditions for both turn-on and turn-off are presented in section IV. A discussion of the results is given in section V, including implications for the simulation of IGBT turn-on and the design of the circuit. II. PHYSICS-BASED IGBT CIRCUIT SIMULATOR MODEL The behavior of conductivity modulated devices, such as PIN diodes and IGBTs, depends heavily on the excess carrier (charge) distribution in the wide lightly-doped drift region. In modern devices, the charge profile has a one-dimensional form over most of its volume. Thus, a one-dimensional solution is adequate for the bulk of the device. Space-charge neutrality is maintained with the majority carrier profile closely matching the minority carrier profile (quasi-neutrality). Under these conditions, and assuming high-level injection, the charge dynamics are described by the ambipolar diffusion equation: D ∂ 2 p ( x, t ) p ∂p( x, t ) = + ∂x 2 ∂t τ (1) A Fourier-based solution for this equation has been developed [1,6]. The second-order partial differential equation is converted into a set of ordinary differential equations with series coefficients p0…pk…pM-1 forming M equivalent R-C cells. The representation requires the width of the undepleted region and the hole and electron currents at the boundaries of the region (x1 and x2), which provide the boundary conditions. This model can be used for both diodes and IGBTs provided appropriate boundary conditions are used. Physics-based electro-thermal models for diodes and IGBTs using the Fourier-based solution method have been developed accordingly and are described in [1,2,7]. III. In an IGBT, the turn-off behavior is predominantly dependent on the amount of charge stored in the drift region. The dV/dt and dI/dt at turn-off and the subsequent current tail are largely determined by the rate of charge extraction. Turnoff losses are only weakly dependent on the gate circuit [9]. On the other hand, IGBT turn-on is largely a majority current phenomenon, determined by the MOSFET part of the IGBT. For this reason, turn-on losses are highly dependent on the gate drive circuit. A fast gate drive can significantly reduce losses. However, other considerations such as diode reverse recovery and short circuit behavior must be considered in the gate circuit design [9]. A. IGBT Turn-On Under Inductive Load Conditions The IGBT turn-on process under inductive load conditions is described in [9]. Fig. 1 shows the chopper cell circuit used to model inductive switching. The load current commutates from the freewheeling diode to the IGBT. The diode reverse recovery current flows through the IGBT causing a significant overcurrent. After the excess carriers in the diode drift region have been removed (or have recombined), the diode recovers its blocking capabilities and the reverse voltage applied to the diode quickly increases. Depending on the diode construction, the diode recovery may be abrupt, causing significant overvoltage and oscillations [10]. Soft recovery diodes are designed to mitigate this problem. B. IGBT Inductive Turn-On Operation in Detail The turn-on process of the IGBT is dominated by the behaviour of the MOS region. Fig. 2 gives a typical switching waveform for the turn-on behaviour. The five phases are given by: L0 RS R0 FWD IL VDC LS LG IGBT TURN-ON BEHAVIOR Under hard switching, diode reverse recovery at turn-on causes significant losses, both in the IGBT and diode, and there is strong interaction between the devices at this switching event [4]. Frequently this forces device and circuit designers to slow down the gate drive in order to mitigate ringing and electromagnetic interference problems caused by snappy diode reverse recovery. In [8] extensive turn-on and turn-off losses are reported for both PT and NPT IGBTs. Turn-on losses are generally larger than turn-off losses, even without inclusion of the significant diode turn-off losses that occur during IGBT turn-on. CS RG IGBT VGG LE Fig. 1. Circuit for IGBT inductive turn-on. - Phase 1: gate voltage rise to threshold; - Phase 2: collector current increase; - Phase 3: forward voltage recovery; - Phase 4: gate voltage plateau; - Phase 5: final gate voltage rise. 1) Turn-on Phase 1 During phase 1, the gate-emitter voltage VGE is below the threshold voltage VTH and the device is off. The gate capacitance consists mostly of the gate-emitter capacitance CGE since the gate-collector (Miller) capacitance CGC is small. Hence VGE rises exponentially, at a rate set by the gate resistance RG and CGE. 2) Turn-on Phase 2 Once VGE reaches VTH at the start of phase 2, the MOS channel starts to conduct and allows electrons to flow into the drift region under the gate, through the drift region and into the IL+IRR VDC IL VGG(on) VCE IC VGE VTH Depletion layer voltage 0 time Drift region voltage drop VGG(off) 1 2 3 Fig. 2: Detail of the IGBT turn-on process. 4 5 3) Turn-on Phase 3 The collector current IC therefore increases to a peak of IL+IRR; at this point, coincident with the start of phase 3, VCE begins to decrease as the diode voltage is now falling. The charge level in the drift region continues to build up as the collector current is high, and the collector voltage decreases further as the depletion layer shrinks towards the MOS end of the drift region. 4) Turn-on Phase 4 Once the drift region adjacent to the MOS channel comes out of depletion and the accumulation layer under the gate begins to form, the gate-collector (Miller) capacitance CGC begins to increase. This sharply reduces the rate at which the depletion layers can shrink, and signals the start of the gate turn-on plateau during phase 4. The decrease in collector voltage during the gate plateau is rarely an observation of only the depletion layer voltage. This is due to the forward voltage recovery of the drift region as it becomes conductivity modulated. The level of stored charge is still low, due to the high lifetime of the IGBT. This results in a high forward voltage drop across the drift region. As the charge level builds up, the drift region voltage drop decreases towards the final on-state value. The excess ambipolar charge stored adjacent to the accumulation layer in the IGBT on-state takes a finite time to increase. As it builds up, it has the effect of decreasing the drift region voltage drop as it forms, since it allows the minimum carrier density in the drift region under the gate to increase from the drift region doping level. Since the drift region voltage drop mostly occurs across this region at this stage, it C. ATLAS Simulation Results for Inductive Turn-On Figs. 3 and 4 show the hole concentration under the gate and electric field under the P-well respectively for a NPT planar IGBT during turn-on. Throughout the process the hole concentration is effectively equal to the ambipolar carrier density within the drift region. While it is strongly dependent 16 2 x 10 Off-state 0.345µs 0.477µs 0.527µs 0.542µs 0.573µs 0.729µs 2.962µs 15.462µs 1.8 1.6 -3 Hole concentration (cm ) As the diode switches off, the charge stored within it must be removed before its voltage can reverse. The diode current IA falls below zero as the charge is extracted. The reverse current peaks at IA = -IRR, at which point VAK begins to fall below zero towards the off-state voltage (approximately -VDC). VCE may rise a little as shown. 5) Turn-on Phase 5 Finally, once the collector voltage has reduced significantly, the MOS channel voltage decreases to the onset of linear operation, marking the start of phase 5. Any further fall in channel voltage results from an increase in gate voltage VGE, as the load current is approximately constant. The gateemitter voltage VGE now charges to the on-state gate voltage VGG(on) at a rate set by RG and CGE+CGC. 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 50 100 150 Position (µm) 200 250 Fig. 3: Detail of the IGBT hole concentration under the gate during the turn-on process simulated in Silvaco ATLAS for a NPT planar IGBT. The P emitter (collector terminal) is at x=0 µm and the gate at x=270µm. 4 15 -1 The initial fall of the collector voltage VCE appears across the stray inductance LS as a back-emf. Since there is little stored charge in the drift region, VCE decreases at a rate set by the depletion capacitances and the stray inductance. The collector current IC increases approximately linearly from zero. The load current IL is practically constant, so the diode current IA (not shown) decreases from its forward current (equal to IL) at an identical rate. The increase in IC corresponds to a rise in gate voltage VGE from the threshold voltage to a level set by IC. The collector current consists almost entirely of electron current at the MOS end of the CSR, so the MOS channel current can be assumed to equal the collector current. During this phase the MOS channel is in saturated operation, depending mostly on the gate-emitter voltage VGE and only weakly on the collector voltage VCE. decreases significantly as the sub-accumulation layer charge builds up. Electric field (Vcm ) P emitter, where they recombine with holes. This allows hole injection to take place at the P emitter (collector terminal), and carrier levels begin to build up in the undepleted drift region. The depletion layer then contracts, discharging the IGBT capacitance, and the collector voltage decreases accordingly. x 10 Off-state 0.345µs 0.477µs 0.527µs 0.542µs 0.573µs 0.729µs 2.962µs 15.462µs 10 5 0 0 50 100 150 Position (µm) 200 250 Fig. 4: Detail of the IGBT electric field under the P-well during the turn-on process simulated in Silvaco ATLAS for a NPT planar IGBT. The P emitter (collector terminal) is at x=0 µm and the P-well at x=264µm. on the collector current at the P emitter end of the drift region, it takes several microseconds to increase to the on-state profile throughout the whole drift region. Note the increase in carrier density under the gate due to the accumulation region: this starts to appear approximately 0.5µs after the start of turn-on. This coincides with the start of phase 4, as the accumulation layer builds up and the gate voltage plateau proceeds. At this point, however, the drift region voltage drop is significant, shown by the substantial electric field under the P-well in fig. 4. This demonstrates that the fall in VCE during turn-on obeys two consecutive stages: the decrease in voltage from the depletion layer recovery, which is a majority carrier effect due to the MOSFET, and the peak in voltage from the drift region forward recovery, which a bipolar effect. D. IGBT Turn On Under Resistive Load Conditions IGBT resistive turn on is described in [11,12]. This process is simpler than in the inductive load case. The resistive load circuit is shown in fig. 5. The inductance LS represents the parasitic loop inductance. Waveforms for the resistive turn on process are shown in fig. 6, characterized by four phases. Since LS is small, equation (2) is satisfied at all times. RLOAD RG VGG VGE VDC IC VCE IC time 0 1 2 3 4 VGG(on) VTH 0 Fig. 6. Typical waveforms for IGBT resistive turn-on. At the start of phase 1 (t=0), the gate drive voltage VGG goes high and the gate-emitter capacitance CGE starts charging. This phase ends when the gate-emitter voltage reaches the threshold voltage. Phase 2 commences as the MOS channel in the IGBT starts conducting. The collector-emitter voltage VCE decreases rapidly in response to the voltage drop on resistor RLOAD. The Miller capacitance CGC acts as feedback to limit the gradient of the gate-emitter voltage. As a result, the gate-emitter voltage is approximately constant during this interval. The behavior is dominated by the MOSFET inside the IGBT. In phase 3, the ohmic voltage drop in the drift region has a significant effect on the voltage and current waveforms. The drift region is initially depleted of charge and consequently it has a large resistance. At the start of phase 3 this voltage drop contributes significantly to the collector voltage VCE, and it slows down the turn-on process. As charge accumulates in the drift region, the drift region resistance drops due to increasing conductivity modulation. Therefore the voltage waveform in this phase is dominated by the charge dynamics in the drift region. This explains the slow evolution of the voltage. The gate-emitter voltage remains approximately constant in this period due to the effect of the Miller capacitance. E. Influence of Device and Circuit Characteristics The IGBT turn-on process is critically affected by the emitter inductance, IGBT MOS characteristics and, in the case of inductive switching, the diode characteristics. These are discussed in the following sections. VCE VGE (2) Again, this demonstrates that turn-on occurs in two stages: a fast MOSFET stage in which the collector current increases rapidly, and a slow bipolar stage dominated by conductivity modulation of the drift region. In the second stage significant losses may occur. Fig. 5. Circuit for IGBT resistive turn-on. VDC VDC − VCE RLOAD Finally, in phase 4 the gradient of the collector voltage VCE becomes too small to pin the gate-emitter voltage, which completes its charging up to VGG. LS IGBT IC = time 1) Importance of the Emitter Inductance The effect of the Kelvin emitter inductance LE is critical during inductive turn-on. Typically this is 5-10nH for a 1cm2 IGBT chip. The large positive dIC/dt as the collector current increases in phase 2 causes a back emf across this inductance, and reduces the available gate-emitter voltage. This slows down the rate at which the IGBT turns on. For larger values of LE the gate voltage is slowed down sufficiently to cause a significant inflexion in the collector voltage VCE, causing VCE to actually increase before falling towards its on-state value. 2) Importance of the IGBT MOS characteristics At the beginning of turn-on, when the IGBT collector current is increasing, the IGBT behaviour is dominated by the MOS channel and the gate capacitance. Accurate simulation of IGBT turn-on waveforms is critically dependent on matching the parameters controlling the MOS channel – VTH (threshold 200 150 Vge Vce 100 100 50 Current (A) Ic 200 0 0 Ia -50 -100 -100 -200 Vak -300 -150 -200 -400 -250 -500 2.0E-07 4.0E-07 6.0E-07 8.0E-07 1.0E-06 1.2E-06 1.4E-06 1.6E-06 1.8E-06 2.0E-06 Time (s) Fig. 7: Inductive switching waveforms for IGBT turn-on and diode turn-off using RG=10Ω, at 300V and 100A. The gate voltage VGE is scaled by a factor of 10. 300V 100A 10ohm IGBT turn-off 700 350 600 300 500 250 200 Voltage (V) 400 Vce 300 150 100 200 Current (A) RESULTS A. Inductive Switching Figs. 7 and 8 give the inductive switching waveforms for IGBT turn-on and turn-off respectively at 300V, 100A using a gate resistance RG of 10Ω. Similar waveforms are given in figs. 9 and 10 for 400V operation. IGBT turn-on waveforms only are shown in figs. 11 and 12 for 200V and 150V operation respectively, with a current of 100A and a gate resistance of 10Ω. A reduced gate resistance of 2Ω is used for turn-on in fig. 13, with conditions of 200V and 100A. Fig. 14 shows the effect of reduced current, with conditions of 300V, 50A and 10Ω. 250 400 300 50 100 Ic 0 0 -100 -50 Vge -100 -200 2.0E-07 4.0E-07 6.0E-07 8.0E-07 1.0E-06 1.2E-06 1.4E-06 1.6E-06 1.8E-06 2.0E-06 Time (s) Fig. 8: Inductive switching waveforms for IGBT turn-off using RG=10Ω, at 300V and 100A. The gate voltage VGE is scaled by a factor of 10. Diode turnon waveforms are omitted for clarity. 600 400V 100A 10ohm IGBT turn-on/diode turn-off 300 400 200 Ic 200 Voltage (V) IV. Experimental and simulation results are given in the following sections for both inductive and resistive switching across a range of voltage and current conditions and for different gate resistances. The devices used to obtain experimental waveforms were rated at 600V, 100A. The IGBT was a fast-switching, avalanche rated NPT device manufactured by APT, and the diode was a fast-recovery device manufactured by Powerex. All tests were carried out at room temperature. A large snubber was placed across the diode to avoid severe oscillations during reverse recovery, noting that the IGBT is fast switching. The simulation waveforms for both the IGBT and diode were obtained using the Fourier-based solution models implemented in PSpice. Both models used seven terms in the Fourier series. The model parameters were extracted using the methods given in [3]. 500 100 Vge Vce 0 0 Ia -200 Current (A) 3) Importance of the Diode Reverse Recovery The IGBT collector current, and therefore the IGBT turn-on power dissipation, depends strongly on the diode reverse recovery current. Correct modeling of the collector current requires accurate simulation of the diode reverse recovery; therefore the diode used in simulation must also be accurate across a wide range of conditions. The softness of the diode – the relative duration of the reverse recovery time before and after the peak in reverse current – is also important, because this affects the rate of conductivity modulation in the IGBT and the subsequent decrease in collector voltage towards its onstate value. 300V 100A 10ohm IGBT turn-on/diode turn-off Voltage (V) voltage), KP (channel conductance) and λ (channel shortening parameter) – and those controlling the gate capacitance – COX (gate oxide capacitance per unit area), lm (intercell half-width), A (active die area) and ai (intercell area ratio). The IGBT output capacitance, which interacts with the stray inductances LS and LE, is also dependent on the undepleted portion of the drift region; therefore correct determination of the drift region width WB is necessary. -100 Vak B. Resistive Switching Figs. 15 and 16 show the resistive switching waveforms for IGBT turn-on and turn-off respectively at 400V, 100A using a gate resistance of 10Ω. Turn-on waveforms at 200V, 100A, using a gate resistance of 10Ω, are given in fig. 17. The gate resistance is reduced to 2Ω for the turn-on waveforms at 400V, 100A in fig. 18. -400 -200 -600 -300 2.0E-07 4.0E-07 6.0E-07 8.0E-07 1.0E-06 1.2E-06 1.4E-06 1.6E-06 1.8E-06 2.0E-06 Time (s) Fig. 9: Inductive switching waveforms for IGBT turn-on and diode turn-off using RG=10Ω, at 400V and 100A. The gate voltage VGE is scaled by a factor of 10. 200V 100A 2ohms IGBT turn-on/diode turn-off 400V 100A 10ohm IGBT turn-off 200 600 150 250 400 200 150 300 Ic 200 100 200 50 Voltage (V) 400 Current (A) Vce Voltage (V) 500 Vge Vce 100 0 Ia 100 50 Current (A) 800 0 -50 -100 Vak Ic 0 0 Vge -100 -300 -150 -400 -200 -200 -50 2.0E-07 4.0E-07 6.0E-07 8.0E-07 1.0E-06 1.2E-06 1.4E-06 1.6E-06 1.8E-06 2.0E-06 -250 -500 2.0E-07 4.0E-07 6.0E-07 8.0E-07 1.0E-06 1.2E-06 1.4E-06 1.6E-06 1.8E-06 2.0E-06 Time (s) Time (s) 500 200V 100A 10ohm IGBT turn-on/diode turn-off Fig. 13: Inductive switching waveforms for IGBT turn-on and diode turn-off using RG=2Ω, at 200V and 100A. The gate voltage VGE is scaled by a factor of 10. 250 600 400 200 450 300 150 0 Ia -100 -200 -100 -300 -150 Vge Vce 0 50 0 Ia -50 -150 -50 Vak 100 150 Voltage (V) 0 50 Current (A) Vge Vce 150 Ic 100 100 200 300 Ic 200 300V 50A 10ohm IGBT turn-on/diode turn-off Current (A) Fig. 10: Inductive switching waveforms for IGBT turn-off using RG=10Ω, at 400V and 100A. The gate voltage VGE is scaled by a factor of 10. Diode turnon waveforms are omitted for clarity. Voltage (V) -200 Vak -400 -200 2.0E-07 4.0E-07 6.0E-07 8.0E-07 1.0E-06 1.2E-06 1.4E-06 1.6E-06 1.8E-06 2.0E-06 -300 -100 -450 -150 -600 3.0E-07 Time (s) 5.0E-07 7.0E-07 9.0E-07 1.1E-06 1.3E-06 1.5E-06 1.7E-06 -200 1.9E-06 Time (s) Fig. 11: Inductive switching waveforms for IGBT turn-on and diode turn-off using RG=10Ω, at 200V and 100A. The gate voltage VGE is scaled by a factor of 10. Fig. 14: Inductive switching waveforms for IGBT turn-on and diode turn-off using RG=10Ω, at 300V and 50A. The gate voltage VGE is scaled by a factor of 10. 150V 100A 10ohm IGBT turn-on/diode turn-off 250 200 200 600 Vge 150 150 100 100 0 Ia -50 -50 -100 Vak -100 -150 -150 -200 -200 -250 -250 -300 3.00E-07 5.00E-07 7.00E-07 9.00E-07 1.10E-06 1.30E-06 1.50E-06 1.70E-06 1.90E-06 -300 Time (s) Fig. 12: Inductive switching waveforms for IGBT turn-on and diode turn-off using RG=10Ω, at 150V and 100A. The gate voltage VGE is scaled by a factor of 10. 125 Ic 400 50 0 150 500 Voltage (V) Voltage (V) Vce Current (A) Ic 50 400V 100A 10ohm IGBT resistive turn-on 300 100 75 200 Vge 100 50 25 Current (A) 250 Vce 0 0 -100 -25 -200 -50 2.0E-07 4.0E-07 6.0E-07 8.0E-07 1.0E-06 1.2E-06 1.4E-06 1.6E-06 1.8E-06 2.0E-06 Time (S) Fig. 15: Resistive switching waveforms for IGBT turn-on using RG=10Ω, at 400V and 100A. The gate voltage VGE is scaled by a factor of 10. 600 400V 100A 10ohm IGBT resistive turn-off and turn-off across all conditions. Turn-off waveforms are included in the results in section IV to demonstrate that the parameters required to give good turn-on matching are also valid for turn-off. 150 125 500 400 100 300 75 200 50 25 100 Current (A) Voltage (V) Vce Ic 0 0 Vge -25 -100 -50 -200 2.0E-07 4.0E-07 6.0E-07 8.0E-07 1.0E-06 1.2E-06 1.4E-06 1.6E-06 1.8E-06 2.0E-06 Time (S) Fig. 16: Resistive switching waveforms for IGBT turn-off using RG=10Ω, at 400V and 100A. The gate voltage VGE is scaled by a factor of 10. 200V 100A 10ohm IGBT resistive turn-on 150 125 250 Ic 200 75 150 Voltage (V) 100 Vge 50 100 50 Vce 25 Current (A) 300 0 0 -50 -25 -100 -50 -75 -150 2.0E-07 4.0E-07 6.0E-07 8.0E-07 1.0E-06 1.2E-06 1.4E-06 1.6E-06 1.8E-06 2.0E-06 Time (S) Fig. 17: Resistive switching waveforms for IGBT turn-on using RG=10Ω, at 200V and 100A. The gate voltage VGE is scaled by a factor of 10. 400V 100A 2ohm IGBT resistive turn-on 500 Voltage (V) 120 Ic 100 400 80 300 60 200 Vge 40 20 100 Current (A) 600 Vce 0 0 -20 -100 -40 -200 1.0E-07 2.0E-07 3.0E-07 4.0E-07 5.0E-07 6.0E-07 7.0E-07 8.0E-07 9.0E-07 1.0E-06 Time (s) Fig. 18: Resistive switching waveforms for IGBT turn-on using RG=2Ω, at 400V and 100A. The gate voltage VGE is scaled by a factor of 10. V. DISCUSSION The results in figs. 7-18 show excellent agreement of simulation waveforms with those obtained experimentally. It was necessary to adjust the parameters of both devices and the circuit carefully to obtain consistent matching at both turn-on In particular, the emitter inductance LE, IGBT MOS parameters and diode parameters all strongly affected the IGBT turn-on waveforms for clamped inductive switching. Accurate prediction of IGBT turn-on losses is therefore dependent on correct estimation of these parameters. Although the diode losses are smaller than those of the IGBT, the diode reverse recovery current is reflected in the IGBT collector current waveform at turn-on; therefore correct modeling of the diode is essential when estimating IGBT turn-on losses. A. Inductive Switching The models have successfully captured the diode reverse recovery waveforms and the inflexion in the IGBT collector voltage during turn-on in figs. 7, 9, and 11-14. The gate waveforms are well matched, although there are discrepancies at the beginning of turn-on and the end of turn-off. It is suspected that this is caused by extra impedance in the gate drive not taken into account in the model. This may be due to a delayed ability to source enough current for switching the IGBT, thus slowing down the initial rate of change in gate voltage. The turn-off waveforms in figs. 8 and 10 are less accurately matched. This is due to two main factors: the non-linearity in the gate drive already discussed, and avalanche within the IGBT. The IGBT is rated at 600V, and the speed at which it is switched causes the peak in collector voltage at turn-off to approach or exceed 600V, thus causing avalanche. This is also evident from the flat shape of the collector voltage peak, resulting from the increased IGBT capacitance caused by extra carriers generated during avalanche. The early current fall in simulation indicates that the small snubber has some inductance not modeled. B. Resistive Switching The resistive switching waveforms in figs. 15-18 show good matching. All the principal features are captured, including the gate voltage inflexion at the beginning of turn-on. The error at negative gate voltages is, as for inductive switching, due to the gate drive non-linearity not modeled here. The inflexion in the gate voltage arises from the high dI/dt appearing in the stray emitter inductance LE. The lack of a suitable model for MOS injection into the intercell region accounts for the slow reduction in collector voltage drop during phases 3 and 4. C. Interaction of the IGBT and Diode Comparing the turn-on waveforms in figs. 11 and 13 shows the effect of the gate resistance RG on the IGBT turn-on and diode turn-off. With a gate resistance of 10Ω, there is a noticeable inflexion in the collector voltage as the current commutates from the diode to the IGBT. With a resistance of only 2Ω, the initial rate of decrease in collector voltage is significantly faster, and the collector voltage achieves a low value quickly. The two-stage turn-on process is now seen clearly, with the fast initial fall in collector voltage due to the behaviour of the MOS channel and gate, and the subsequent reduction in collector voltage due to the bipolar forward voltage recovery. The effect on the diode recovery waveforms is that for faster IGBT switching (reduced gate resistance) the diode peak reverse recovery current and voltage both increase from 250A and 350V to 300A and 400V for 10Ω to 2Ω respectively. This reduction is not as great as might be expected. The effect of a reduced gate drive resistor is mitigated by the rate of conductivity modulation and the stray emitter inductance. The gate resistance must therefore be chosen carefully, emphasising the need for the IGBT, diode and circuit to be matched [4]. A strategy to reduce the peak diode reverse recovery voltage while maintaining low switching losses is described in [13] using active voltage control of the gate. D. Modeling of the IGBT Drift Region Voltage Drop The turn-on waveforms observed at various voltages (figs. 7, 9, 11 and 12) show that the reduction in IGBT drift region voltage drop in stage 3 of turn-on is less accurately modeled than the initial fall in collector voltage. This is due to the lack of a suitable model for electron injection into the drift region from the MOS channel. As explained in section III, the behaviour of the IGBT depletion layer and excess carriers is complex and two-dimensional in this region and is closely coupled to the diode voltage. The development of suitable models for MOS injection, excess carrier storage near the gate accumulation layer and their coupling to the gate capacitance in this region of the device is essential for accurate simulation of this stage of IGBT turn-on. It also promises to provide a more accurate model for the IGBT on-state voltage drop. This work is currently in progress. VI. CONCLUSIONS This paper has presented an improved understanding of the IGBT turn-on process, using finite-difference simulation. The importance of the emitter inductance, IGBT MOS characteristics and capacitance evolution, and diode recovery in IGBT turn-on has been explained. Accurate simulation of turn-on using compact physicsbased models (utilizing the Fourier-based solution method) has been demonstrated across a wide range of conditions for both inductive and resistive switching. A full solution of the ADE was required for the diode as well as the IGBT. Strong interaction between IGBT and diode at turn-on has been shown, with the diode significantly affecting IGBT losses. Turn-off waveforms are also well-matched for the same parameters, showing that the models are consistent for turn-on and turn-off. The need for an accurate model of the IGBT intercell region (encompassing MOS injection into the drift region and its interaction with the gate capacitance) has been identified. REFERENCES [1] P.R. Palmer, E. Santi, J.L. Hudgins, X. Kang, J.C. Joyce, P.Y. 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