Power devices for 4kV half-bridge inverters

In the power electronics community, it is well recognized that the improvements in system performance in terms of efficiency, size and weight are driven by enhancements made in semiconductor device characteristics. The rapid growth in high power electronic applications has generated tremendous interest in Power Electronic Building Blocks (PEBBs) like the half-bridge inverter which form the cornerstone of numerous power conversion topologies. The objective of this research effort was to develop superior, cost-effective, ‘plug-and-play’ device components for use in PEBBs.; The Dual Channel Emitter Switched Thyristor (DC-EST) was developed and experimentally demonstrated at the 4kV power switch rating to have 20% lower forward conduction voltage drop when compared to the IGBT. Despite its thyristor based nature, the DC-EST was designed to exhibit MOS gate controlled current saturation to high voltages. The DC-EST was shown to posses a superior trade-off curve of forward voltage drop versus turn-off time when compared to the IGBT.; A fast switching power rectifier known as the Merged PiN/Schottky (MPS) rectifier was also developed at the 4kV rating and experimentally demonstrated to exhibit superior switching characteristics when compared to the PiN diode. The reduced anode injection efficiency concept was further explored in a comparative analysis of two other rectifier structures: the SSD and the SPEED. The lower anode injection efficiency approach was found to be inherently superior to the lifetime control approach in improving the switching speed of the high voltage rectifier.; The efficacy of the reduced injection efficiency method was analyzed on the performance of power switches by the implementation of ‘transparent emitter’ DC-EST designs. Numerical inductive load simulations showed that this method yields superior performance to the lifetime control approach. Characterization of the fabricated devices confirmed the dependence of forward voltage drop and turn-off time on the anode injection quality.; The different power switches and rectifiers demonstrated at the 4kV rating were strictly developed within the confines of currently used commercial process technologies. The superior characteristics demonstrated for these power devices, coupled with the identical fabrication techniques compared to commercial devices, make the components developed in this study particularly viable for rapid commercialization.