Influence of the gate resistance on the short circuit type II & III behavior of IGBT modules and protection

Inhalt:
The influence of the gate drive unit (GDU) output stage and the gate turn-on resistance on the short circuit (SC) type II and III behavior of Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) modules was investigated in detail. It was found that the gate resistance has a significant effect on short circuit behavior. A trade-off between the short circuit current peak and voltage overshoot has to be made. Finally, a gate voltage clamping circuit for improved SC ruggedness and a fast SC detection method based on desaturation monitoring is introduced and tested.