Potential of Reverse Conducting IGBTs in Voltage Source Inverters

Hans-Gnter Eckel, University of Rostock, Institute of Electrical Power Engineering, Germany

Abstract
Reverse Conducting IGBTs integrate the functionality of the IGBT and the free-wheeling diode into one
chip. This reduces the current density in the IGBT mode and especially in the diode mode. Therefore,
the output current of the inverter can be increased. In this paper it is analysed, how the performance
improvement depends on the application conditions. Three phase inverters with AC output current in
motor and generator mode at high and low output fundamental frequencies are taken into account as
well as inverters with DC output current.

1. Introduction The aim of this paper is to evaluate the potential

of the high voltage, high power reverse conduct-
IGBTs are nowadays the preferred power semi-
ing IGBT which is described in [5]. It is a 3.3kV
conductors for inverters for electrical drives and
device with 36 chips in a 190 mm x 140 mm
power conversion. 3.3 kV and 6.5 kV IGBTs
module housing.
have replaced GTOs in high power, medium
voltage inverters. During the last 10 years, the
on-state and the switching performance of high Emitter Emitter
voltage IGBTs have been significantly improved. Gate Gate
The first 3.3 kV IGBTs were NPT devices. In the
second generation of 3.3 kV IGBTs, the field-
stop concept was introduced, allowing a signifi-
cant reduction of the device thickness and n- basis n- basis
thereby a better product of switching and on- (substrate) (substrate)
state losses [1]. 6.5 kV IGBTs already started
with this technology [2]. With state-of-the-art third
generation 3.3 kV resp. second generation 6.5kV
IGBTs, an enhancement of the carrier- n+ field stop layer n+ field stop layer
p+ p+ n+
concentration at the front side of the chip was Collector Collector
realized by Trench-IGBTs [3, 7] or Carrier-
Enhancement IGBTs [4]. With this latest technol-
ogy, IGBTs have reached an optimum. They can conventional
RC-IGBT
be designed as thin as it is possible for the re- IGBT
quired blocking voltage and cosmic ray robust-
ness and they have a nearly flat carrier distribu-
tion, which leads to a minimal product of on-state Fig. 1 Cross-section of a conventional and a
voltage and turn-off losses. reverse conducting IGBT
One possible way of further improvements is the
integration of the functionality of the IGBT and
the diode in one single chip. The result is the 2. IGBT and inverter data
Reverse-Conducting IGBT. [5, 7].
Up to now, reverse conducting IGBTs with a
A cross section of the reverse conducting IGBT
blocking voltage of more than 1.2 kV exist only
is shown in Fig. 1. The MOS front side of the de-
as prototypes. So there are no data-sheets avail-
vice is the same as with a conventional IGBT. On
able. For the estimation of the data of an re-
the backside, the anode is shortened, so that
verse-conducting IGBT, a conventional 3.3 kV /
current flow in both directions is possible. In fact,
1500 A IGBT with the latest progresses concern-
the body diode of the MOSFET is used as free-
ing carrier enhancement is taken as basis [11].
wheeling diode.
The electrical values which were estimated for
the reverse conducting IGBT are shown in Table
1. It was assumed, that the reverse conducting cause the reverse conducting IGBT has the
IGBT was optimized to have the same on-state greatest advantage over a conventional IGBT /
voltage and the same switching losses per chip- diode module, when the cross-coupling between
area in the IGBT-mode as the state-of-the-art the IGBT and the diode is low. So the chosen
IGBT. As the chip area in the diode-mode is application is a best case application for reverse
100% of the chip area in the IGBT-mode (instead conducting IGBTs.
of 50% with a normal IGBT/diode combination), The thermal behaviour of the conventional mod-
the diode has to be optimized for a low reverse ule and the cooler is characterized by a matrix
recovery charge per chip area to reach the target model [8]:
for the IGBT turn-on losses. So it is assumed,
that the reverse recovery charge in the diode- T jI Z th ( jc ) I PI Z th (ca ) II Z th (ca ) DI PI
= +
mode per chip area is significantly lower than T Z
jD th ( jc ) D PD Z th (ca ) ID Z th (ca ) DD PD
with the conventional IGBT, resulting in half the
The cross-coupling between the chips inside the
reverse-recovery losses per chip area. On the
module is neglected. The thermal model of the
other hand, it is assumed that the on-state volt-
reverse conducting IGBT is chosen to have the
age in the diode mode vF has the same value as
same step response as the IGBT / diode module,
with the conventional diode, although the current
if the conventional IGBT, the diode and the re-
density is only half the current density of a con-
verse conducting IGBT have the same power
ventional diode.
loss per chip.
The cross-coupling from the diode to the IGBT
kQDI and from the IGBT to the diode kQID is, due
to the water cooling, relatively low.
reverse-conducting

Rth ( ca ) DI Adiode
kQDI = = 0.38
State-of-the-art
IGBT-module

Rth ( ca ) II AIGBT
estimation

Rth ( ca ) ID AIGBT
kQID = = 0.74
IGBT

Rth ( ca ) DD Adiode
No. of chips in
IGBT mode 24 36
No. of chips in
diode mode 12 36 3. Inverters with AC output
nominal current [A] 1500 current
nominal current
in IGBT mode [A] 62,5 62,5 The reverse conducting IGBT has two major ad-
nominal current vantages over the conventional IGBT / diode
in diode mode [A] 125 62,5 combination:
v.CEsat (IGBT mode) The current density in the IGBT and es-
@ nominal current per chip pecially in the diode mode is reduced, so
in IGBT mode [V] 3,1 3,1 the on-state losses are reduced.
v.F (diode mode)
The whole chip area can be used as
@ nominal current per chip
IGBT or as diode.
in diode mode [V] 2,1 2,1
E.off (IGBT mode) The first point is independent on the inverter to-
@nominal current per pology and operating point.
chip in IGBT mode [mJ] 113 113 Whether the second point is advantageous or
E.on (IGBT mode) not depends strongly on the application: The
@nominal current per conventional IGBT / diode combination has a
chip in IGBT mode [mJ] 83 83 chip area ratio of 2 : 1 (IGBT : diode). So the
E.RR (diode mode)
best performance is reached, when two third of
@nominal current per
the overall losses occur in the IGBT and one
chip in diode mode [mJ] 171 85 third in the diode. Of course it is not possible to
have IGBT- and diode losses at the same in-
Table 1: Assumed electrical values of the re- stant, but if the fundamental frequency of the
verse conducting IGBT output current is sufficient high in comparison to
The calculations were carried out for a water- the thermal time constants, the IGBT and the di-
cooled inverter. Water-cooling was chosen, be- ode can have approximately the same tempera-
ture. This 2 : 1 losses ration occurs, if a three- Operating point of a three phase motor
phase inverter is operated in the motor-mode at low speed:
with a medium or high fundamental frequency. f1 = 5 Hz, a = 0.15
So with this operating point, the smallest advan- Operating point of an induction motor at
tages of the reverse conducting IGBT are to be zero speed:
expected. On the other hand, the best effects are f1 = 1 Hz, a = 0.05
to be expected, if the IGBT / diode loss ratio is
not 2:1. and especially if the diode losses limit Operating point of a synchronous motor
the output current. at nearly zero speed:
f1 = 0.1 Hz, a = 0.05
3.1. Reference operating point Fig. 2 shows the conventional IGBT / diode mod-
ule at the 1 Hz operating point. The chips cool
Reference for the following comparison is the down to the case temperature during the period
maximal output RMS current of a three-phase where they do not carry current.
inverter with a state-of-the-art IGBT / diode mod-
ule at a dc-link voltage of 1.8 kV, a modulation
degree a of 1, a fundamental frequency f1 of
50 Hz and a switching frequency of 500 Hz. The
output current is sinusoidal with a power factor
cos of 0.8 in motor operation (power flow from
dc to ac). The cooling liquid has temperature of
55C and it is assumed, that the maximum tem-
perature is limited to 125C.
In this operating point, the reverse conducting
IGBT benefits from its lower on-state losses and
from the circumstance, that the loss ration of the
IGBT / diode module is not exactly 2:1. This
leads to a 20% higher maximal output current of
the inverter with reverse conducting IGBT (Table
2).

Conventional Reverse
IGBT / diode module conducting
IGBT Fig. 2 Conventional IGBT / diode module:
Tjunction Tjunction Tjunction TJunction and Tcase at f1 = 1 Hz
I RMS I RMS
IGBT diode
I ref I ref T
[C] [C] [C] C Tj

1 125 102 1.2 125 125

Table 2: Junction temperatures at the reference

operating point 100
(motor operation, f1 = 50 Hz)

3.2. Influence of the fundamental 75 Tc

frequency
At lower fundamental frequencies the smoothing 50
of the chip temperature due to the thermal time
TH2O
constants is less effective, so the 2:1 loss ratio is
no longer achieved.
The following operating points are taken into ac- t
0 0.25 0.5 0.75
count: s
Nominal operating point (= reference Fig. 3 Reverse conducting IGBT:
operating point): TJunction and Tcase at f1 = 1 Hz
f1 = 50 Hz, a = 1
Fig. 3 shows the same operation point for a re- T
verse conducting IGBT. All chips carry current at C Tj
both polarities of the load current. At 50 Hz, the
maximum current of the reverse conducting 125
IGBT was 20% higher than that of the conven-
tional IGBT / diode module, at 1 Hz, it is 30%
higher (Fig. 4). 100

reverse 75 Tc
conducting
IGBT +20%
IRMS
+30%
Iref 50
1.0 TH2O

IGBT / t
0.5 diode 0 0.25 0.5 0.75
s
Fig. 5 Reverse conducting IGBT:
TJunction and Tcase at f1 = 1 Hz;
0.0
f1 third harmonic on the output voltage
0.1 1 10 100
Hz
Fig. 4 Output current as a function of the fun- reverse
damental frequency, motor operation conducting
IGBT
+45% +20%
3.3. Modulation with a third har- IRMS
monic Iref
As it can be seen in Fig. 3, the reverse conduct- 1.0
ing IGBT has a higher output current capability in
the diode-mode than in the IGBT-mode. This IGBT /
opens a new degree of freedom. At operating 0.5 diode
points with a low modulation degree, the remain-
ing voltage reserve can be used to modulate a
third harmonic on the output voltage which is in 0.0
phase with the output current [10]. So the on- f1
0.1 1 10 100
time of the device which is in the IGBT-mode can Hz
be reduced and the on-time of the device which Fig. 6 Output current as a function of the fun-
is in the diode-mode can be increased. This re- damental frequency, motor operation;
duces the power loss in device which operates in reverse conducting IGBT with third
the IGBT- and increases it in the device which harmonic modulation
operates in the diode-mode. Fig. 5 shows, that
the temperature in the diode mode is now nearly 3.4. Regenerative operation
as high as in the diode mode. A further shift of
losses form the IGBT-mode into the diode-mode During regenerative operation (power flow from
is not possible, because the maximum modula- AC to DC) and high modulation degree, the out-
tion degree of the inverter is reached. put current is limited by the diode (Table 3). In
this operating point, the reverse conducting IGBT
The achievable output current of the inverter with benefits from the large chip-area in the diode
reverse conducting IGBTs is shown in Fig. 6. At mode. The output current can be increased by
50 Hz and a = 1 it is not possible to add a third 45%. So the output current in regenerative op-
harmonic because there is no margin in the eration is higher than in motor operation.
modulation degree. At 0.1 Hz, the addition of a
third harmonic allows an increase of the output If, as assumed, the fundamental frequency is
current by 45% in comparison with the conven- coupled with the modulation ratio, the differences
tional IGBT / diode module. Without the third between motor and generator mode vanish at
harmonic, the increase was 30% (Fig. 4). low fundamental frequencies.
 Conventional Reverse
cycles
IGBT / diode module conducting
IGBT 109
I RMS Tjunction Tjunction I RMS Tjunction
IGBT diode 108
I ref I ref
[C] [C] [C] 107
0.94 97 125 1.38 125
106
Table 3: Junction temperatures for regenerative
operation, f1 = 50 Hz
105
Again it is possible to add a third harmonic to T
shift the power loss from the hot to the cold de- 10 20 30 40
K
vice. With the IGBT / diode module, the output
can be increased at the 5 Hz operating point. At Fig. 8 Power-cycling capability of an IGBT
50 Hz, there is no margin in the modulation de- module according to [6]
gree, at 1 Hz and 0.1 Hz, the difference between With the conventional IGBT / diode module,
diode and IGBT temperature becomes very low. there is one thermal cycle per period of the fun-
With the reverse conducting IGBT, the output damental frequency (Fig. 2), with the reverse
current can be increased between 33% and 50% conducting IGBT there are two thermal cycles
(Fig. 7). (Fig. 3), when the third harmonic is added, there
a three thermal cycles per period of the funda-
mental frequency (Fig. 5). For each cycle, the
relative lifetime consumption is calculated. Due
to the exponential curve, the highest temperature
swing dominates the lifetime consumption.

Tj Lifetime operating
consump- lifetime
tion
-7
Conventional IGBT / 44 K 5.8 * 10
diode module (Fig. 2) total 5.8 * 10
-7
480 h
-7
Reverse conducting 36 K 2.0 * 10
IGBT 10 K 2.3 * 10
-10

(Fig. 3) -7
total 2.0 * 10 1400 h
-8
Reverse conducting 29 K 6.4 * 10
IGBT, 22 K 1.5 * 10
-8
Fig. 7 Output current as a function of the fun- third harmonic added -11
damental frequency, regenerative op- (Fig. 5) 6K 1.6 * 10
-8
eration; reverse conducting IGBT with total 7.9 * 10 3500 h
third harmonic modulation
Table 4: Expected lifetime for continuous opera-
3.5. Thermal cycles tion in the 1 Hz operating point at
maximum output current
As it can be seen in Fig. 2, Fig. 3 and Fig. 5 the
operation at low fundamental frequencies leads Table 4 shows that the lifetime of the reverse
to high temperature swings of the junction and conducting IGBT at continuous operation in the
thereby to thermo-mechanical stress for the 1 Hz operating point is 7 times as high as with
bond-wires and their connection to the chip. To the conventional IGBT / diode module, although
quantify the difference between the conventional the current has been increased by 44%.
and the reverse-conducting IGBT, the raindrop-
method was used.
The power cycling capability of an IGBT module
4. Inverters with dc-output
is describe by a Coffin Manson curve. Taking the current
values from [6] results in a curve for the 10% fail- In converters with dc-output current, as two
ure probability: quadrant converters or four-quadrant converters
for dc-motors, each IGBT module is used either
as IGBT or as diode. For one polarity of the cur-
rent, the losses in a module are either 100%
IGBT losses or 100% diode losses. In the mod-
ule which operates as IGBT, one third of the
chips are not in use, in the module which oper-
ates as diode, two third of the chips are not in
use. In the whole converter, one half of the chip
is used for one polarity of the current, the other
half for the other polarity.
In these applications, reverse conducting IGBTs
give a great benefit, as all chips are used for
both polarities of the current. The gain of output
current is especially high, if the diode is limiting
the current of the conventional module (Fig. 9).
Fig. 9 DC current relative to the DC reference
current as a function of the modulation
degree a.
5. Summary
The effect of reverse conducting IGBTs on the
achievable output current of voltage source in-
verters was evaluated for 3.3kV devices. Basis
for this investigation is an optimistic estimation of
the electrical data of the reverse conducting
IGBT and a water cooler with relatively low ther-
mal cross-coupling between the chips. So the
results are best-case results. The gain of output
current depends on the operating point of the in-
verter. The conventional high power IGBT mod-
ules are optimized for a loss ratio between IGBT
and diode of 2:1. The worse this ratio is met, the
higher is the current gain with reverse conduct-
ing IGBT. Between 30% and 50% more output
current are achieved in generator mode, at low
output frequencies or with dc-output current.
6. Acknowledgment
The author would like to thank Mr. Rahimo from
ABB semiconductors for the information about
the perspective data for 3.3kV reverse conduct-
ing IGBTs.
7. Literature
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Schaeffer, T. Schmidt; "The Field Stop IGBT
(FS IGBT) A New Power Device Concept
with a Great Improvement Potential"; ISPSD
2000, Toulouse, France,pp. 355-358.
[2] J. Bauer, F. Auerbach, A. Porst, R. Roth, H.
Ruething, O. Schilling; 6.5 kV-Modules us-
ing IGBTs with Field Stop Technology;
ISPSD 2001, Osaka, pp. 121-124.
[3] Th. Schtze, J. Biermann, R. Spanke, M.
Pfaffenlehner, High power IGBT modules
with improved mechanical performance and
advanced 3.3kV IGBT3 chip technology,
PCIM 2006, Nuremberg, Germany.
[4] M. Rahmio, A. Kopta, S. Linder, Novel En-
hanced-Planar IGBT Technology rated up to
6.5kV for lower losses and higher SOA Ca-
pability, ISPSD 2006, Naples, Italy.
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Vobecky, D. Schneider, A. Baschnagel A
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