A Simulation study of 6.5kV Gate Controlled Diode

Abstract

Gate Controlled Diode (GCD) with micro-pattern trench structure, allows charge carrier modulation at the anode region by gate control. This is utilized to operate the diode at low saturation mode and desaturate the diode before IGBT turn-on, to achieve a better trade-off. The paper demonstrates the concept of a silicon bi-polar power diode with micro-pattern trench gate, for 6.5 kV applications. Thereby, a detailed study of switching behaviour and the switching pattern were conducted, so as to reduce the overall switching loss and improve the efficiency. The efficiency also depends on the robustness of the diode, several issues concerning the reverse recovery robustness of the Gate controlled diode were investigated.