ABB Semiconductors Industrie

IGCT Technology Baseline andFuture Opportunities

IGCT Technology Baseline and Future Opportunities

Peter Steimer, Oscar Apeldoorn, ABB Industrie AG, CH-5300 Turgi, Switzerland Eric Carroll, ABB Semiconductors AG, CH-5600 Lenzburg, Switzerland Andreas Nagel, ABB Corporate Research, D-68520 Ladenburg, Germany
Abstract: Commercially introduced in 1997, the IGCT has rapidly progressed into the main areas of High Power Electronics, namely: Industrial Drives, Traction and Energy Management. Its simultaneous expansion towards higher and lower powers in such a short period of time was made possible by drawing on technologies derived from years of work on both GTOs and IGBTs. These technologies include anode and buffer-layer designs, lifetime profiling, separation technology for monolithic diode integration and junction passivation techniques. Asymmetric, Reverse Conducting and, more recently, Symmetric devices have become available to meet expanding application needs. The future potential especially in respect of 10kV and dual gate devices is discussed. Diversified applications will require standardised components and the Power Electronic Building Blocks will have to become reality if cost expectations are to be met. The present paper will outline the trends and opportunities for meeting PEBB goals and will show the newest very high power PEBB, developed with the Office of Naval Research especially for T&D applications, with simple supply on potential of series connected IGCTs. Key Words: Thyristors, Insulated gate bipolar transistors, Industrial power systems, Power quality, Motor drives, Power conversion, Traction motor drives, Power transmission.

I. INTRODUCTION The Integrated Gate-Commutated Thyristor operates on the principle that thyristors are ideal conduction devices (Fig. 1a) whereas transistors are ideal turn-off devices. The IGCT therefore converts a thyristor structure to a transistor structure prior to turn-off by fast commutation of the cathode current [1] and keeps it biased off with a 20 V source (Fig. 1b). This results in a device which dynamically and statically blocks like an IGBT (open-base pnp transistor producing the same turn-off losses) but conducts like a thyristor i.e. with about half the on-state voltage due to the greater plasma density produced by the two emitters (pnp & npn transistors).
Anode

Anode

Vd (kV)
P N

Ia (kA) Vdm

V AK
I AK

4
N

anode voltage Vd Itgq

4 3

3
Gate
P

Gate

P N

2
N

anode current Ia thyristor

Tj = 90C

2 1 0

IGK

1
- VGK
Cathode

transistor

0
Cathode

-10 -20 Vg (V) 15 20

starts to block gate voltage V g 25 30 35 time ( s)

Fig. Conducting IGCT (Thyristor)

1a

Fig. Blocking IGCT (Transistor)

1b

Fig. 2 IGCT Turn-off exhibits same waveform and losses (E off) as Transistor

II. BASIC TECHNOLOGIES IGCTs draw from a number of technologies as developed for IGBTs and recent GTOs such as: Transparent Emitter [2], Buffer-Layer, Lifetime-Profiling [3], Reverse Conduction (monolithic diode integration for VSIs) [2] and Reverse Blocking (monolithically [4] or discretely [5] ). It is the first power semiconductor to be supplied integrated into its gate unit and this is possible by virtue of the fact that this device is only a switch: it makes no attempt to modulate transition speeds neither on nor off. This is in stark

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IGCT Technology Baseline andFuture Opportunities

contrast to much of the direction which power electronics has taken in the last 10 years and leads to the basic topology of Fig. 3a. In this topology, the DC link (VDC) is decoupled by a choke which controls diode turn-off di/dt and fault currents. This is absent in the circuit of Fig. 3b which requires that di/dt be controlled by modulating the transconductance of the transistors (IGBTs) and assumes that failure of a device will result in a limited fault current through the desaturation of the complimentary device. In Low Voltage Drives (LVDs) with DC links of 600 V, high diode di/dts are allowable and the switching transients are so short that negligible losses are generated (nearly 2000 A/us per cm2 of diode area). High voltage silicon diodes operating at 30 times lower di/dts and 5 times higher voltages generate 150 times the turn-on losses in the switch (choke of 3a or amplifier of 3b). Since power diodes will be made of silicon for the foreseeable future, these diode-specific turn-on losses (which may represent over half the inverter losses and are the same in both Fig. 3a and 3b) are preferably dissipated outside the semiconductor (in a lowcost resistance in Fig. 3a) than inside the expensive semiconductor (S1 to 6 in Fig. 3b).
FWD1
S1 Ls S3 S5

L R

S1

S3

S5

Dclamp VD C Cclamp

S2

S3

S6

VD C S2 S4 FWD 6 S6

Fig. 3a - Typical IGCT Inverter

Fig. 3b - Typical IGBT inverter

III. PEBB Despite applications of growing diversity (see Applications below) the basic Power Electronic Building Blocks are monotonously repetitious. This has lead many (most notably the Office of Naval Research [6] ) to the conclusion that a PEBB could be developed, which would fulfill a wide range of applications for Power Electronic Systems in Industrial, Transportation, Energy Management and Marine equipment. Fig. 4 shows a 3-Level IGCT inverter in which the phase-leg and clamp configuration is repeated with variations due to the neutral point clamp diodes (NPCs) and Fig. 5 shows a current source inverter.

Fig. 4: 3-Level Voltage Source Inverter

Fig. 5: Current Source Inverter

Figs 3, 4 and 5 recall the commonality in Power Electronic Systems (PES) but none better than Fig. 4 which ideally illustrates that most MV applications, even without series connection, require the electrical stacking of several identical components. This is one reason for the continued popularity of press-pack semiconductors which allow the highest power densities and lowest packaging costs at MV levels. Despite the progress made in isolated packaging techniques, the lowest assembly costs and highest power densities are achieved by using stacked IGCTs where up to 12 press-packs can be assembled with just two bolts. The availability of switches with reverse conduction, symmetry or asymmetry, fitting into standard JEDEC housings and controlled by standard integrated gate drivers - stackable at will - is a major step towards the PEBB goal.

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Standard and cost-effective medium voltage building blocks can now be developed with defined interfaces to the control, as required by the PEBB philosophy. IV. APPLICATIONS Fig. 6b shows an MV energy management system built from IGCT phase modules of which one is shown in Fig 6a. 3 The system has an efficiency of 99.7% and the phase-leg has a power density of 27 MW/m (760 kW/ft 3 ), greatly 3 2 exceeding the ONR goal of 50 kW/ft for a low voltage PEBB. (Foot-print density is 27 MW/m ). These modular blocks reuse existing MVD technology [7] which was in turn derived from T&D technology [8, 9]. Currently, similar blocks are being designed into Traction Power Heads.

Fig. 6a: 30 MW IGCT Power Management System

Fig. 6b: 9 MVA Power Electronics Building Block

Todays commissioned IGCT equipments range from 0.3 to 5 MW general purpose MVDs through 5 MW DVRs, DUPSs and Solid State Breakers [9], 22 MVA DVRs, 20 MW Metals Drives [10], 25 MW SMES [11], 15 MW BESS and up to 100 MW interties [8]. This wide power range has been covered by IGCTs in just 4 housing types with no paralleling of semiconductors. It is estimated that over 2 GW of IGCT equipment has been commissioned since 1995 with at least a further 1 GW pending at the time of writing. V. COSTS
Costs/MVA comparison of a 4.5kV switch position
160% mechanical clamp 140% 120% 100%
Costs/MVA

clamp/snubber GU supply cooler gate drive semiconductor

80% 60% 40%

20% 0%
4.5kV/2500A 85mm GTO & 68mm Diode 2.5MVA 4.5kV/2400A 91mm RCIGCT 3MVA 4.5kV/3600A 91mm IGCT & 68mmDiode 4.5MVA 2.5kV/1800A IGBT Presspack 3.7MVA 4.5kV/1200A IGBT Presspack 2MVA

Fig. 7: Relative MVA costs for Press-Pack designs comparing GTO, IGCT and IGBT in the same topology IEEE-PES page 3 of 6 Atlanta, October 2001

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Fig. 7 shows the costs per MW for the switch position costs of various inverter technologies. Only press-pack solutions are considered here allowing a certain commonality of the assembly techniques. The chart shows not only that total costs are lowest for IGCT inverters but reveals that gate-unit costs do not vary significantly per MVA for the different technologies contrary to popular belief. VI. RELIABILITY Under this heading we will loosely group Thermal Cycling, Fault Protection, Cosmic Ray Withstand, Random Failures. Press-packs are generally favoured for their high thermal cycling performance (100k cycles for 0.01 percentile of the distribution at 80C junction temperature excursions for large monolithic devices) and also for their higher explosion resistance than modules due to the fact that the component is under a positive mechanical force and has no bond wires which vaporise under surge conditions. Nevertheless, if used in the topology of Fig 3b, neither press-packs nor their bus-bars would withstand the 900 kA of fault current which the link capacitors of a 4kV/3 MW inverter can produce [12]. Used however in conjunction with a decoupling inductance, the fault current can be limited to:

I = V C/(L + L S )

(1)

where LS is the stray inductance of the circuit (say, 100 - 300 nH) and L is the di/dt limiting inductance which can then be sized for (1) maximum allowable diode di/dt, (2) surge-withstand of the semiconductors or (3) explosion withstand of their packages (minimal requirement). Cosmic Ray failures, first identified in Traction devices in the early 1990s, are a well understood phenomena for monolithic bipolar devices [13] and appear as part of device specifications. Fig.8 shows the FIT Rate (Failures In Time) dependence on DC link voltage of a 4kA/4.5 kV IGCT. These values are included in all other extrinsic failure rates shown in Table 1 and considered for the useful lifetime of the device.
FIT vs. VDC 1,000

100

10

1 2400 2500 2600 2700 2800 2900 3000 3100 3200 3300 3400

Fig. 8: Cosmic Ray Withstand Capability of 4 kA/4.5kV IGCT expressed in FIT (failures in 109 device-operating hours) as a function of applied DC voltage.

Extrinsic and intrinsic FIT rates can only be determined from experience or extrapolated from devices of similar technology. Based on 15 years of GTO experience, 5 years of IGCT experience and best estimates for 4.5 kV presspack IGBTs. Table 1 compares failure rates for an 8 MVA 3-level inverter per Fig. 4.
No of 8 MVA Chips Inverter per Switch Type Switch IGCT GTO IGBT 1 1 24 (FIT) 50 100 120 No of Chips per FW Diode Diode 1 1 12 (FIT) 20 20 60 N Parallel Devices Equivalent Equivalent Inverter FIT Discrete Ratio NPC Diode Clamp per Total Position (12 Positions) IGCT per Position (FIT) 10 10 10 (FIT) 50 200 50 (FIT) 3'960 6'240 9'120 1.0 1.6 2.3

Gate Driver (FIT) 200 200 150

to

1 1 2

Table 1: Expected long term reliability of an 8 MVA/3-level, water-cooled inverter

VII. TRENDS A . Devices IGCTs currently operate at power densities of 250 kW/cm2 but twice this SOA has been demonstrated [14] and it is expected that devices with such improved ratings will go into production in the coming years.
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Thanks to inorganic passivation, snubberless TJ ratings have risen from 115C to 125 and will rise to 140C in the next two years, at least for 4.5 kV devices. Surge ratings will double in the same period allowing the clamp inductances to be reduced by a factor of four. This will in turn raise the demands for diode di/dt capability. Snubberless diodes today operate at about 150 kW/cm2 but SOAs of 1 MW/cm2 have been demonstrated [15]. Requests for IGCTs of higher and lower voltage and current ratings surface regularly. Lower current and voltage ratings are purely a commercial issue and will depend on market potentials and the pros and cons (both real and perceived) with respect to IGBTs. Larger currents have already been realised (up to 6 kA) and will become more common in Metals Drives and Power Management applications. Of particular interest is the higher voltage IGCT (e.g. 10 kV). This device is under serious consideration because of the numerous MV applications at the 6.9 kV level and the need to minimise component count. Fig. 9 shows the simulated turn-off waveform of a 10 kV/2 kA device. Feasibility has been verified [16] but the acceptability of trading-off series-connection (2 x 5.5 kV) against either current or frequency derating has yet to be established. Additionally first measurements of dual-gate IGCT technology have been shown [17], indicating that the tail losses (see Fig. 10) can be completely eliminated and ultralow on-state voltages can be achieved (2.1V @ 4000A @ 125C). The dual-gate technology is expected to exploit its full potential most probably combined with high voltage devices (e.g. 10kV).

Voltage (kV), Current (kA)

kV 4 3 2 1 0 0 10 20 30 s

Fig. 9: Simulation of 91 mm/10 kV IGCT turn-off EOFF = 20 Ws at:ITGQ = 2.1 kA, VDC = 5.13 kV, T J = 117C VTM = 5.3 V at 2100 A, T J = 117C

Fig. 10: Measurements of 4.5kV, 3300A dual-gate IGCT turn-off EOFF = 13.5 Ws at:I TGQ = 3.3 kA, VDC = 2.8 kV, T J = 85C VTM = 2.1 V @ 4 kA/125C

B. Equipment Series connection of IGCTs has been well established with conventional RCD snubbers [8] without selections or adjustments. More recent developments for high PWM frequencies have successfully implemented series-connection with simple RC snubbers [10]. Depending on the RC values retained, banding of the IGCTs becomes necessary but with their inherent fast switching, selection down to 100 ns has become possible even for 12 MW devices.
Lc1 +Uzk
Supply GU

Supply

GU

Rc1

Supply

GU

Supply

GU

AC
Supply GU

Supply

GU

Rc2

Supply

GU

Supply

GU

Lc2 -Uzk

Fig. 11a: Snubberless 18 MVA IGCT PEBB with supply of gate units on potential

Fig. 11b: 18 MVA IGCT PEBB with supply on potential

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Until now, series-connected IGCTs did rely on separate isolated power supplies for their gate drives. With long stacks as used in T&D applications (e.g. ns = 6 [8]), this becomes costly. Supply-on-potential (SOP) has already been done for GTOs [18] and for IGBTs in HVDC short links. Now the ideal snubberless series-connection with supply on potential for IGCT technolgy has been developed together with the Office of Naval Research. A first product of an 18 MVA PEBB is shown in Fig. 11. Soft-switching of IGCTs has already been demonstrated [19]. Since the switching frequency of IGCTs (as well as of IGBTs) is thermally limited, these techniques will allow 4.5 kV devices to operate at 3 kHz or more at the cost of increased circuit complexity. Little work has been done on the parallel operation of IGCTs as the technology allows the production of monolithic wafers (up to 6 kA), thus minimising component count. Some work has been carried out on large DC breakers with between 2 to 8 devices in parallel but only on the single-shot basis which such applications require. Successful operation has been established even without parameter selection. VIII. CONCLUSIONS Within 6 years of its introduction, the IGCT has established itself as the power device of choice at MV levels by offering the lowest costs, the highest reliability and efficiency and the highest power densities. With only 4 or 5 standard housing sizes, it covers a power range of 0.3 to 300 MW: a dynamic range of 1000! The concept of a universal PEBB has come significantly closer thanks to standardised platforms and components (standard wafers, housings, gate units, coolers, clamps, supply on potential, standard interface to control etc.). Series-connection is simply achieved and is has become simpler for very high powers due to the developed supply on potential. Parallel operation, with its attendant uncertainties, remains unnecessary. The press-pack, denigrated in recent years, is once again recognised for its simplicity, reliability, low inductance, inherent standardisation and modularity, both for IGCTs and IGBTs and the wisdom of decoupling high-energy DC-links from the switch assembly in VSIs is gaining steady acceptance for both devices. IX. REFERENCES
[1] H. Grning, et al., ( ABB), High-Power Hard-Driven GTO Module for 4.5kV/3kA Snubberless Operation, PCIM Europe, 1996 [2] A. Weber, N. Galster, E. Tsyplakov, (ABB ), A New Generation of Asymmetric and Reverse Conducting GTOs and their Snubber Diodes, PCIM Europe, 1997 [3] [4] [5] [6] N. Galster, et al., ( ABB; Prague University) , Application-Specific Fast-Recovery Diode: Design and Performance, PCIM, Tokyo, 1998 K. Satoh, et al., (Mitsubishi), High Power Symmetrical GCT for Current Source Inverter, ISPSD, 1999 A. Weber, et al., Reverse Blocking IGCTs for Current Source Inverters, (ABB), PCIM Europe, 2000 T. Ericsen, (ONR) Power Electronics Building Blocks, The Electric Warship Conference, IME/IEE/SEE, London, 1997

[7] A. Zuckerberger, E. Suter, Ch. Schaub, A. Klett, P. Steimer ( ABB ) Design, simulation and realization of high power NPC converters equipped with IGCTs, IEEE-IAS, St Louis, 1998 [8] P. K. Steimer, H. Grning, J. Werninger, (ABB ) D. Schrder (T.U. Munich) , State-of-the-Art Verification of the Hard Driven GTO Inverter Development for a 100 MVA Intertie, IEEE PESC, Baveno, 1996 [9] W. Raithmayr, et al. ( ABB), Customer Reliability Improvement with a DVR or a DUPS, PowerWorld98, Santa Clara, 1998 [10] J.P. Lyons. V. Vlatkovic, P.M. Espelage, F.H. Boettner, E. Larsen, (GE), Innovation IGCT Main Drives, IEEE IAS, 1999 [11] H-Ch. Doht, M Hilscher, K. Prescher, F-J Unterlass, (Siemens), Design and Behaviour of a Superconducting Energy Management Systems for Industrial Power Quality Applications, EPE Lausanne,1999 [12] R. Marquardt, et al. , (Siemens), Advanced IGBT Converters with 4.5 and 6.5 kV Semiconductor Devices, EPE Lausanne, 1999. [13] H-R. Zeller, (ABB) "Cosmic Ray Induced Breakdown in High Voltage Semiconductor Devices, Microscopic Model and Phenomenological Lifetime Prediction", ISPSD, 1994 [14] [15] [16] [17] H-R Zeller, ( ABB), High Power Components: From the State of the Art to Future Trends, PCIM Europe, 1998 O. Humbel, et al., (ABB), 4.5 kV Fast Diodes with Expanded SOA Using a Multi-Energy Proton Lifetime Control Technique ISPSD, 1999 S. Eicher, S. Bernet, P. Steimer, A. Weber (ABB ), The 10 kV IGCT A New Device for Medium Voltage Drives, IEEE-IAS 2000 Oscar Apeldoorn, Peter Steimer, Peter Streit, Eric Carroll, Andr Weber (ABB ), High-Voltage Dual-gate Turn-off Thyristors, IEEE-IAS 2001 [18] H. Okayama, T. Tsuchiya, M. Kimata, (Mitsubishi), Novel Gate power Supply Circuit using Snubber Capacitor Energy for SeriesConnected GTO Valves, EPE Tondheim, 1997 [19] S. Bernet, M. Lscher, P. Steimer, (ABB ), IGCTs in Soft-Switching Power Converters, EPE Lausanne, 1999

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