Switching Loss Reduction in IGBTs by Multi-gate Control

Abstract

Insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) are now widely used in a variety of products ranging from home appliances to power conversion equipment. This paper introduces multi-gate control techniques for IGBTs with the aim of further reducing their total power loss. Results of experiments using prototype devices confirmed that multi-gate control achieves reductions in turn-off loss (E_off), turn-on loss (E_on) and reverse recovery loss (E_rr) by 27%, 50% and 32%, respectively, compared with the conventional single-gate controlled devices.