Electro-thermal instability in multi-cellular Trench-IGBTs in avalanche condition: Experiments and simulations

Abstract

This paper reports on the results of a study on electro-thermal instability induced in multi-cellular Trench-IGBTs in avalanche condition. Experimental measurements, made on T-IGBTs, show possible inhomogeneous current distribution under Unclamped Inductive Switching (UIS) confirmed by transient infrared thermography measurements. Together with this, an analytical modeling of avalanche behavior has been included in a compact electro-thermal simulator to study the interaction between a large numbers of elementary cells of T-IGBTs forced in avalanche condition. Electro-thermal simulations qualitatively replicate the possible inhomogeneous operation observed experimentally. Finally a possible theoretical interpretation of the instability in avalanche condition for T-IGBT is given.