Improving the short circuit ruggedness of IGBTs

The demands on reliable and fault tolerant power electronic devices are increasing. One opportunity to increase the IGBT short circuit ruggedness is to modify the thermal capacitance and the thermal resistance close to the chip and hence extend the possible short circuit duration. Therefore simulations with different metallization, bond wire and chip interconnect materials are compared to identify the most promising solution for enhancing short circuit capability of IGBTs.