Some scaling issues in the active voltage control of IGBT modules for high power applications

The operation of an IGBT in its active region is a well established technique for handling short circuits, and also for voltage and dv/dt control. One important application of this technique is in the series operation of IGBTs, where voltage controllers can automatically ensure voltage sharing. In this paper we address some specific issues encountered in extending the method to large IGBT modules for high power applications. In applying the method to high power circuits, the scaling of the IGBT's internal capacitances, and other parasitic components is the main aspect that must be given particular consideration.