SuperJunction IGBTS: An evolutionary step of silicon power devices with high impact potential

15 years ago the vertical SuperJunction (SJ) concept conceived for SJ power MOSFETs was the last, major breakthrough in the field of silicon power devices. Today, the SuperJunction MOSFET technologies have reached a mature stage characterized by gradual performance improvements. SuperJunction Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (SJ IGBTs) could interrupt this stagnation holding promise to revitalize voltage classes from 600 up to 1200 V. Such SJ IGBTs surpass by a very significant margin their SJ MOSFET counterparts both in terms of power handling capability, on-state and turn-off losses, all at the same time. On the higher end of the voltage class, SJ IGBTs would top the performance of 1.2 kV IGBTs by a similar margin. © 2012 IEEE