Electro-Thermo-Mechanical Analysis and Modeling of High-Power Intergrated Gate Commutated Thyristors

As a high-power electronic device, intergrated gate commutated thyristor (IGCT) has the characteristics of strong turn
off
, high surge capability, and high withstand voltage ability, which makes it receive more and more attention and be used more widely, such as circuit breakers and inverters. However, since IGCTs is a whole-wafer device, the current distribution and junction temperature distribution inside the chip cannot be measured, making it impossible to obtain the status of the chip and increasing the risk of device failure. In this case, the margin of the chip can only be increased to avoid failure and improve the reliability of the device, which greatly increases the cost of the device. This article proposes a new method to study the physical characteristics of IGCT chips by establishing the split-ring modeling. First, the characteristic of cells is studied to prove the necessity and effectiveness of split-ring model. Then, the electrical, thermal and pressure characteristics of the chip were studied, and their coupling effects were analyzed. Finally, a multiphysics coupling model was proposed to analyze the current and temperature distribution of IGCT under different working conditions. Experiments were conducted to verify the accuracy of the model.