Lecture Notes Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs) Outline • Construction and I-V characteristics • Physical operation • Switching characteristics • Limitations and safe operating area • PSPICE simulation models Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 IGBTs - 1 Multi-cell Structure of IGBT • IGBT = insulated gate bipolar transistor. emitter conductor contact to source diffusion field oxide gate oxide N+ P N+ NN+ P+ gate conductor Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 N+ P N+ gate width buffer layer (not essential) collector metallization IGBTs - 2 Cross-section of IGBT Cell gate emitter SiO 2 J 3 J N + 2 P N + Ls N+ N P+ J - Unique feature of IGBT 1 collector Parasitic thyristor Buffer layer (not essential) • Cell structure similar to power MOSFET (VDMOS) cell. • P-region at collector end unique feature of IGBT compared to MOSFET. • Punch-through (PT) IGBT - N+ buffer layer present. • Non-punch-through (NPT) IGBT - N+ buffer layer absent. Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 IGBTs - 3 Cross-section of Trench-Gate IGBT Unit Cell Emitter boddy-source short Oxide N+ P Parasitic SCR N+ Channel P length Gate conductor N- ID • Non-punch-thru IGBT ID P+ Collector Emitter boddy-source short Oxide N+ P Parasitic SCR N+ Channel P length Gate conductor I N- D P+ • Punch-thru IGBT ID N+ Collector Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 IGBTs - 4 IGBT I-V Characteristics and Circuit Symbols i C increasing V GE i v GE4 C • No Buffer Layer v GE3 VRM ≈ BV CES v • With Buffer Layer V GE(th) GE2 v GE1 V ≈0 RM v V RM • Output characteristics BV CES GE • Transfer curve CE collector drain • N-channel IGBT circuit symbols gate v gate source emitter Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 IGBTs - 5 Blocking (Off) State Operation of IGBT gate SiO 2 J 3 J emitter N + P 2 J - Unique feature of IGBT 1 + Ls N+ N P+ collector Parasitic thyristor • Blocking state operation - VGE < VGE(th) • Junction J2 is blocking junction - n+ drift region holds depletion layer of blocking junction. • Without N+ buffer layer, IGBT has large reverse blocking capability - so-called symmetric IGBT Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 N Buffer layer (not essential) • With N+ buffer layer, junction J1 has small breakdownvoltage and thus IGBT has little reverse blocking capability anti-symmetric IGBT • Buffer layer speeds up device turn-off IGBTs - 6 IGBT On-state Operation gate emitter N + N + • MOSFET section designed to carry most of the IGBT collector current P lateral (spreading) resistance N + + + N- + P+ + + + + + collector gate emitter N + N P NN P + + • On-state VCE(on) = VJ1 + Vdrift + ICRchannel + • Hole injection into drift region from J1 minimizes Vdrift. collector Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 IGBTs - 7 Approximate Equivalent Circuits for IGBTs drift region resistance V gate I C V drift R J1 channel • Approximate equivalent circuit for IGBT valid for normal operating conditions. • Conduction path resulting in thyristor turn-on (IGBT latchup) if current in this path is too large gate Principal (desired) path of collector current VCE(on) = VJ1 + Vdrift + IC Rchannel Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 collector Body region spreading resistance emitter • IGBT equivalent circuit showing transistors comprising the parasitic thyristor. IGBTs - 8 Static Latchup of IGBTs lateral (spreading) resistance J N gate emitter 3 + N + P J2 J1 NN + + + + P+ + + + + collector Conduction paths causing lateral voltage drops and turn-on of parasitic thyristor if current in this path is too large • Lateral voltage drops, if too large, will forward bias junction J3. • Parasitic npn BJT will be turned on, thus completing turn-on of parasitic thyristor. • Large power dissipation in latchup will destroy IGBT unless terminated quickly. External circuit must terminate latchup - no gate control in latchup. Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 IGBTs - 9 Dynamic Latchup Mechanism in IGBTs J N emitter 3 + N gate + J2 P lateral (spreading) resistance J1 NN expansion of depletion region + P + collector • MOSFET section turns off rapidly and depletion layer of junction J2 expands rapidly into N- layer, the base region of the pnp BJT. • Expansion of depletion layer reduces base width of pnp BJT and its a increases. • More injected holes survive traversal of drift region and become “collected” at junction J2. • Increased pnp BJT collector current increases lateral voltage drop in p-base of npn BJT and latchup soon occurs. • Manufacturers usually specify maximum allowable drain current on basis of dynamic latchup. Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 IGBTs - 10 Internal Capacitances Vs Spec Sheet Capacitances C C gc G bridge C +V b C ce C ge C gc E G C Bridge balanced (Vb=0) Cbridge = C gc = C res G C ies C E C ies = C g e + C gc C oes E C oes = C gc + C ce Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 IGBTs - 11 IGBT Turn-on Waveforms • Turn-on waveforms for IGBT embedded in a stepdown converter. • Very similar to turn-on waveforms of MOSFETs. • Contributions to tvf2. v GE t t d(on) Io i (t) C • Increase in Cge of MOSFET section at low collector-emitter voltages. • Slower turn-on of pnp BJT section. V GG+ (t) t V v Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 CE t ri V DD C E(on) (t) t fv1 t t fv2 IGBTs - 12 IGBT Turn-off Waveforms V v GE (t) GE(th ) fi2 t d(off) i (t) C t rv MOSFET current BJT current t t fi1 V CE V GGt t v • Turn-off waveforms for IGBT embedded in a stepdown converter. DD t (t) Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 • Current “tailing” (tfi2) due to stored charge trapped in drift region (base of pnp BJT) by rapid turn-off of MOSFET section. • Shorten tailing interval by either reducing carrier lifetime or by putting N+ buffer layer adjacent to injecting P+ layer at drain. • Buffer layer acts as a sink for excess holes otherwise trapped in drift region becasue lifetime in buffer layer can be made small without effecting on-state losses buffer layer thin compared to drift region. IGBTs - 13 IGBT Safe Operating Area i • Maximum collector-emitter voltages set by breakdown voltage of pnp transistor 2500 v devices available. C 10 FBSOA 10 -5 -4 sec sec DC i C v dv CE re-applied dt 1000 V/ ms CE • Maximum collector current set by latchup considerations - 100 A devices can conduct 1000 A for 10 µsec and still turn-off via gate control. • Maximum junction temp. = 150 C. 2000 V/ ms RBSOA 3000 V/ m s v Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 CE • Manufacturer specifies a maximum rate of increase of re-applied collector-emitter voltage in order to avoid latchup. IGBTs - 14 Development of PSpice IGBT Model Cm source N gate Coxs + N Coxd + Cgdj P Cdsj Ccer Drain-body or base-collector depletion layer N+ N Rb Cebj + P+ Cebd drain • Nonlinear capacitors Cdsj and Ccer due to N-P junction depletion layer. • • • • • • Reference - "An Experimentally Verified Nonlinear capacitor Cebj + Cebd due to P+N+ junction IGBT Model Implemented in the MOSFET and PNP BJT are intrinsic (no parasitics) devices SABER Circuit Simulator", Allen R. Nonlinear resistor Rb due to conductivity modulation of N- drain drift region of Hefner, Jr. and Daniel MOSFET portion. M. Diebolt, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, Nonlinear capacitor Cgdj due to depletion region of drain-body junction (N-P junction). Vol. 9, No. 5, pp. 532542, (Sept., 1994) Circuit model assumes that latchup does not occur and parasitic thyristor does not turn. Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 IGBTs - 15 Parameter Estimation for PSpice IGBT Model • Built-in IGBT model requires nine parameter values. • Parameters described in Help files of Parts utility program. • Parts utility program guides users through parameter estimation process. • IGBT specification sheets provided by manufacturer provide sufficient informaiton for general purpose simulations. • Detailed accurate simulations, for example device dissipation studies, may require the user to carefully characterize the selected IGBTs. Drain Cgdj Coxd Gate Cm + Coxs Cebj + Cebd Ccer Rb Cdsj • Built-in model does not model ultrafast IGBTs with buffer layers (punch-through IGBTs) or reverse free-wheeling diodes Source Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 IGBTs - 16 PSpice IGBT - Simulation Vs Experiment 0V 10 V 5V 1 nF 15 V 20 V 25 V Data from IXGH40N60 spec sheet Simulated C 0.75 nF GC versus V CE for IXGH40N60 V =0V GE 0.5 nF 0.25 nF 0 100 V 200 V 300 V 400 V 500 V Collector - emitter Voltage Copyright © by John Wiley & Sons 2003 IGBTs - 17