Switching speed enhancement in insulated gate transistors by electron irradiation

High-speed switching in insulated gate transistors (IGT's) has been achieved by using electron irradiation. This technique allows excellent control over the switching speed with the ability to reduce the gate turn-off time from over 20 µs to under 200 ns. This increase in speed is accompanied by an increase in the forward voltage drop during current conduction. This necessitates performing a trade-off between switching and conduction losses. Despite the increase in the forward drop, the IGT's exhibit superior characteristics in comparison with power MOSFET's and bipolar transistors up to switching frequencies of 100 kHz.