Field-Stop Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (FS-IGBTs) are widely used in various power applications due to their low conduction and switching losses. However, further reductions in cell pitch lead to increased cell density, resulting in higher saturation current that adversely impacts the short-circuit ruggedness essential for applications such as welding machines and motor drives. This paper details the design and fabrication of a 650V, 75A FS-IGBT. By incorporating dummy gate and emitter trench structures within the active gate and optimizing the layout of the three cell structures, the short-circuit characteristics of the device are markedly improved. Experimental tests confirm that the device exhibits both low saturation on-state voltage and short-circuit ruggedness. This study further investigates the circuit parameters related to short-circuit conditions and comprehensively analyzes the impact of each parameter on the short-circuit characteristics of the FS-IGBT. The experimental results indicate that the bus voltage VDC, gate voltage VG, and temperature TC significantly influence the short-circuit performance of the FS-IGBT. Therefore, a moderate decrease in VDC, VG, and TC can effectively enhance the short-circuit ruggedness and the short-circuit withstand time tSC of the device.

The 1.2 kV SiC VDMOSFETs with varied JFET width (LJFET) are designed and fabricated in this study. The static and dynamic characteristics of each design are measured and compared. There is the best trade-off performance in the design of LJFET = 1.8 μm according to FOM (BV2/Ron) and FOM (Ciss/Crss). Besides, the surge capacity and evaluation for series designs are investigated under conditions of Vgs = 0 V and Vgs = −5 V. There is a best surge capacity in design of LJFET=1.2 μm, and the largest surge energy is the design of LJFET=2.0 μm. Further, the surge failure mechanisms of LJFET = 1.2 μm, 1.8 μm, and 2.0 μm under condition of Vgs = −5 V are investigated by decapsulated and FIB. Besides, the TCAD simulation was employed to theoretical analysis. The results show that the extremely high temperature was generated instantaneously under surge condition, resulting in epoxy carbonization, polysilicon melting and ILD oxide crack in failed position. Besides, the surge dissipating energy causes an instantaneous high temperature on the entire chip, resulting in aluminum remetallization. This paper would provide suggestions for device design and surge study.

The Electronics Editorial Office retracts the article “Effects of Current Filaments on IGBT Avalanche Robustness: A Simulation Study” [1], cited above. Following publication, the authors contacted the Editorial Office regarding errors identified in the simulation model and analysis presented in the article [1]. Adhering to our standard procedure, an investigation was conducted by the Editorial Board that confirmed that the simulation presented in this paper is incorrect due to the use of incorrect material parameters: Silicon Carbide (SiC) parameters were used, instead of Silicon (Si). Consequently, the conclusions drawn from this simulation are invalid and cannot be relied upon. As a result, the Editorial Office, Editorial Board, and the authors have concluded that this error undermines the validity and accuracy of the findings, and have decided to retract this article [1] as per MDPI’s retraction policy (https://www.mdpi.com/ethics#_bookmark30). This retraction was approved by the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Electronics. The authors agree to this retraction.

The hexagonal cell topology of planar SiC VDMOSFETs with varied JFET width (LJFET) are designed and manufactured in this study. L JFET=1.4μ m has the best HF-FOM (R on × Cgd) and HF-FOM (R on × Qgd) by comparing the dynamic and static parameters of each design. Besides, the UIS reliability and failure mechanism for series designs are investigated by experiment and TCAD simulation. The results show that the high temperature is generated by energy dissipation during avalanche and it drives the parasitic BJT conduction, causing Ids out of control and instantaneous heat concentration in a very short time. The extremely high temperature causes internal cracking of the material and metal melting, resulting in gate-source short circuit and device damage. It would provide suggestions for device design and reliability consideration.