四半世紀にわたるIGBT開発の軌跡（1984年〜2009年）

概要

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The non-latch-up IGBT was developed by a Japanese researcher 25 years ago, and thereafter, further modifications have been introduced mainly by Japanese engineers involved in research on power semiconductor devices. The development of non-latch-up IGBT (1984), IEGT (1990), and FS-IGBT (1999) have been the three major milestones that have defined the focus of the research on IGBT development. The 1st milestone was the development of IGBTs with characteristics better than those of Bipolar junction transistors. The 2nd milestone was the removal of limitation of blocking voltage without increase of on-state voltage, resulting in achievement of the blocking voltage as high as that of a GTO. The 3rd milestone resulted in the IGBT becoming the most widely used power semiconductor device. Then, in 2006, a device with electrical characteristics even with those of SiC and GaN devices was reported. This device could be considered the 4th milestone. In this paper, I attempt to describe the spirit and passion which were shared by the 1st generation people of the IGBT development.