IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor)

What is IGBT?

IGBT is an acronym for Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor.
Iｔ is classified a power semiconductor device in the transistor field.
And IGBT is able to contribute to achieve higher efficiency and energy saving for wide range of high voltage and high current applications.

Power Semiconductor Device Features (Comparison with IGBT)

Among power semiconductor devices (in the transistor field), in addition to IGBT there are MOSFETs and bipolar types primarily used as semiconductor switches.
With respect to switching speed, bipolar types are suitable for medium speed while MOSFETs support the high-frequency range.
IGBTs is a bipolar device that utilizes two types of carriers, electrons and holes, resulting from the complex configuration that features a MOSFET structure at the input block and bipolar output, making it a transistor that can achieve low saturation voltage (similar to low ON resistance MOSFETs) with relatively fast switching characteristics.
However, although it features relatively fast switching characteristics, they are still inferior to power MOSFETs, making it a drawback of IGBTs.

[Basic Structure and Features of Power Devices]

A Field Effect Transistor utilizes a semiconductor element comprised of metal, oxide, and semiconductor layers.

A bipolar element is used, which is a current operation type transistor utilizing p- and n-type semiconductors in npn and pnp configurations.