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Insulated-gate bipolar transistor
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===Practical devices=== Practical devices capable of operating over an extended current range were first reported by [[B. Jayant Baliga]] et al. in 1982.<ref name="J. Baliga, pp. 264β267">{{cite book |last1=Baliga |first1=B.J. |title=1982 International Electron Devices Meeting |last2=Adler |first2=M. S. |last3=Gray |first3=P. V. |last4=Love |first4=R. P. |last5=Zommer |first5=N. |year=1982 |pages=264β267 |chapter=The insulated gate rectifier (IGR): A new power switching device |doi=10.1109/IEDM.1982.190269 |s2cid=40672805}}</ref> The first experimental demonstration of a practical discrete vertical IGBT device was reported by Baliga at the [[IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting]] (IEDM) that year.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shenai |first1=K. |title=The Invention and Demonstration of the IGBT [A Look Back] |journal=IEEE Power Electronics Magazine |date=2015 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=12β16 |doi=10.1109/MPEL.2015.2421751 |s2cid=37855728 |issn=2329-9207}}</ref><ref name="J. Baliga, pp. 264β267"/> [[General Electric]] commercialized Baliga's IGBT device the same year.<ref name="Baliga">{{cite book |last1=Baliga |first1=B. Jayant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f091AgAAQBAJ |title=The IGBT Device: Physics, Design and Applications of the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor |date=2015 |publisher=[[William Andrew (publisher)|William Andrew]] |isbn=9781455731534 |pages=xxviii, 5β12}}</ref> Baliga was inducted into the [[National Inventors Hall of Fame]] for the invention of the IGBT.<ref name="NIHF">{{cite web |title=NIHF Inductee Bantval Jayant Baliga Invented IGBT Technology |url=https://www.invent.org/inductees/bantval-jayant-baliga |website=[[National Inventors Hall of Fame]] |access-date=17 August 2019}}</ref> A similar paper was also submitted by J. P. Russel et al. to IEEE Electron Device Letter in 1982.<ref name=COMFET>{{cite journal |doi=10.1109/EDL.1983.25649 |title=The COMFETβA new high conductance MOS-gated device |year=1983 |last1=Russell |first1=J.P. |last2=Goodman |first2=A. M. |last3=Goodman |first3=L.A. |last4=Neilson |first4=J. M. |journal=IEEE Electron Device Letters |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=63β65 |bibcode=1983IEDL....4...63R |s2cid=37850113 }}</ref> The applications for the device were initially regarded by the [[power electronics]] community to be severely restricted by its slow switching speed and latch-up of the parasitic thyristor structure inherent within the device. However, it was demonstrated by Baliga and also by A. M. Goodman et al. in 1983 that the switching speed could be adjusted over a broad range by using [[electron irradiation]].<ref name="J. Baliga, pp. 452β454">{{cite journal |last1=Baliga |first1=B.J. |year=1983 |title=Fast-switching insulated gate transistors |journal=[[IEEE Electron Device Letters]] |volume=4 |issue=12 |pages=452β454 |bibcode=1983IEDL....4..452B |doi=10.1109/EDL.1983.25799 |s2cid=40454892}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1109/IEDM.1983.190445 |chapter=Improved COMFETs with fast switching speed and high-current capability |title=1983 International Electron Devices Meeting |year=1983 |last1=Goodman |first1=A.M. |last2=Russell |first2=J. P. |last3=Goodman |first3=L. A. |last4=Nuese |first4=C. J. |last5=Neilson |first5=J. M. |pages=79β82 |s2cid=2210870 }}</ref> This was followed by demonstration of operation of the device at elevated temperatures by Baliga in 1985.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Temperature behavior of insulated gate transistor characteristics |journal=Solid-State Electronics |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=289β297 |doi=10.1016/0038-1101(85)90009-7 |year=1985 |last1=Baliga |first1=B. Jayant |bibcode=1985SSEle..28..289B}}</ref> Successful efforts to suppress the latch-up of the parasitic thyristor and the scaling of the voltage rating of the devices at GE allowed the introduction of commercial devices in 1983,<ref>Product of the Year Award: "Insulated Gate Transistor", General Electric Company, Electronics Products, 1983.</ref> which could be used for a wide variety of applications. The electrical characteristics of GE's device, IGT D94FQ/FR4, were reported in detail by Marvin W. Smith in the proceedings of PCI April 1984.<ref name="archive1982.web.fc2.com">Marvin W. Smith, [https://archive1982.web.fc2.com/Application1984.pdf "APPLICATIONS OF INSULATED GATE TRANSISTORS"], PCI April 1984 PROCEEDINGS, pp. 121β131, 1984.</ref> Smith showed in Fig. 12 of the proceedings that turn-off above 10 amperes for gate resistance of 5 kΞ© and above 5 amperes for gate resistance of 1 kΞ© was limited by switching safe operating area although IGT D94FQ/FR4 was able to conduct 40 amperes of collector current. Smith also stated that the switching safe operating area was limited by the latch-up of the parasitic thyristor. Complete suppression of the parasitic thyristor action and the resultant non-latch-up IGBT operation for the entire device operation range was achieved by A. Nakagawa et al. in 1984.<ref name="Nakagawa Ohashi Kurata et al 1984"/> The non-latch-up design concept was filed for US patents.<ref>A. Nakagawa, H. Ohashi, Y. Yamaguchi, K. Watanabe and T. Thukakoshi, "Conductivity modulated MOSFET", [https://patents.google.com/patent/US6025622 US Patent No. 6025622 (Feb. 15, 2000)], No. 5086323 (Feb. 4, 1992) and [https://patents.google.com/patent/US4672407 No. 4672407 (Jun. 9, 1987)].</ref> To test the lack of latch-up, the prototype 1200 V IGBTs were directly connected without any loads across a 600 V constant-voltage source and were switched on for 25 microseconds. The entire 600 V was dropped across the device, and a large short-circuit current flowed. The devices successfully withstood this severe condition. This was the first demonstration of so-called "short-circuit-withstanding-capability" in IGBTs. Non-latch-up IGBT operation was ensured, for the first time, for the entire device operation range.<ref name="A. Nakagawa pp. 150β153">{{cite book |doi=10.1109/IEDM.1985.190916 |chapter=Experimental and numerical study of non-latch-up bipolar-mode MOSFET characteristics |title=1985 International Electron Devices Meeting |year=1985 |last1=Nakagawa |first1=A. |last2=Yamaguchi |first2=Y. |last3=Watanabe |first3=K. |last4=Ohashi |first4=H. |last5=Kurata |first5=M. |pages=150β153 |s2cid=24346402 }}</ref> In this sense, the non-latch-up IGBT proposed by Hans W. Becke and Carl F. Wheatley was realized by A. Nakagawa et al. in 1984. Products of non-latch-up IGBTs were first commercialized by [[Toshiba]] in 1985. This was the real birth of the present IGBT. Once the non-latch-up capability was achieved in IGBTs, it was found that IGBTs exhibited very rugged and a very large [[safe operating area]]. It was demonstrated that the product of the operating current density and the collector voltage exceeded the theoretical limit of bipolar transistors, 2{{E|5}} W/cm<sup>2</sup> and reached 5{{E|5}} W/cm<sup>2</sup>.<ref name="A.Nakagawa 1987"/><ref name="A. Nakagawa pp. 150β153"/> The insulating material is typically made of solid polymers, which have issues with degradation. There are developments that use an [[ion gel]] to improve manufacturing and reduce the voltage required.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.license.umn.edu/Products/Ion-Gel-as-a-Gate-Insulator-in-Field-Effect-Transistors__Z07062.aspx |title=Ion Gel as a Gate Insulator in Field Effect Transistors |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114011218/http://www.license.umn.edu/Products/Ion-Gel-as-a-Gate-Insulator-in-Field-Effect-Transistors__Z07062.aspx |archive-date=2011-11-14 }}</ref> The first-generation IGBTs of the 1980s and early 1990s were prone to failure through effects such as [[latchup]] (in which the device will not turn off as long as current is flowing) and [[secondary breakdown]] (in which a localized hotspot in the device goes into [[thermal runaway]] and burns the device out at high currents). Second-generation devices were much improved. The current third-generation IGBTs are even better, with speed rivaling [[power MOSFET]]s and excellent ruggedness and tolerance of overloads.<ref name="A.Nakagawa 1987">{{cite journal |doi=10.1109/T-ED.1987.22929 |title=Safe operating area for 1200-V nonlatchup bipolar-mode MOSFET's |year=1987 |last1=Nakagawa |first1=A. |last2=Yamaguchi |first2=Y. |last3=Watanabe |first3=K. |last4=Ohashi |first4=H. |journal=IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=351β355 |bibcode=1987ITED...34..351N |s2cid=25472355 }}</ref> Extremely high pulse ratings of second- and third-generation devices also make them useful for generating large power pulses in areas including [[particle physics|particle]] and [[plasma physics]], where they are starting to supersede older devices such as [[thyratron]]s and [[triggered spark gap]]s. High pulse ratings and low prices on the surplus market also make them attractive to the high-voltage hobbyists for controlling large amounts of power to drive devices such as solid-state [[Tesla coil]]s and [[coilgun]]s.
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