©2009 Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation HGTG30N60C3D Rev. B
Handling Precautions for IGBTs
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors are susceptible to gate-
insulation dama ge by the elec trost ati c discharge of ene rgy
through the devices. When handling the se devi ces, ca re
should be exercised to assure that the st atic charge built in
the handler’s body capacit a nce is not d ischarged throu gh the
device. With proper handling and a pplication pro cedures,
however, IGBTs are currently being extensively used in
production by numerous equipment manufacture rs in military,
industrial and consumer appl ications, with virtually no damage
problems due to electrost atic disch arge. IGBTs can be
handled safely if the following basic pre cautions are t ake n:
1. Prior to assembly into a circuit, all leads should be kept
shorted together either by the use of metal shorting
springs or by the insertion into conductive material such
as “ECCOSORBD™ LD26” or equivalent.
2. When devices are removed by hand from their carriers,
the hand being used should be grounded by any suitable
means - for example, with a metallic wristband.
3. Tips of soldering irons should be grounded.
4. Devices should never be inserted into or removed from
circuits with power on.
5. Gate V olt age Rating - Never exceed the gate-volt age
rating of VGEM. Exceeding the rated VGE can result in
permanent damage to the oxide layer in the ga te reg ion.
6. Gate Termination - The gates of these devices are
essentially capacito rs. Circuit s that leave the gate
open-circuited or floati ng should be avoided . These
conditions can result in turn-on of the device due to voltage
buildup on the input cap acitor d ue to leakage currents or
pickup.
7. Gate Protection - These devices do not have an internal
monolithic zener diode from gate to emitter. If gate
protection is required an external zener is recommended.
Operating Frequency Information
Operating frequency information for a typical device (Figure 13)
is presented as a guide for estimating device performance
for a specific application. Other typical frequency vs collector
current (ICE) plots are possible using the information shown
for a typical unit in Figures 4, 7, 8, 11 and 12. The operating
frequency plot (Figure 13) of a typical device shows fMAX1 or
fMAX2 whichever is smaller at each point. The information is
based on measurements of a typical device and is bounded
by the maximum rated junction temperature.
fMAX1 is defined by fMAX1 = 0.05/(tD(OFF)I + tD(ON)I).
Deadtime (the denominator) has been arbitrarily held to 10%
of the on-state time for a 50% duty factor. Other definitions
are possible. tD(OFF)I and tD(ON)I are defined in Figure 21.
Device turn-off delay can establish an additional frequency
limiting condition for an application other than TJM. tD(OFF)I
is important when controlling output ripple under a lightly
loaded condition.
fMAX2 is defined by fMAX2 = (PD - PC)/(EOFF + EON). The
allowable dissipation (PD) is defined by PD=(T
JM -T
C)/RθJC.
The sum of device switching and conduction losses must
not exceed PD. A 50% duty factor was used (Figure 13)
and the conduction losses (PC) are approximat ed by
PC=(V
CE xI
CE)/2.
EON and EOFF are defined in the switching waveforms
shown in Figure 21. EON is the integral of the instant aneous
power loss (ICE x VCE) during turn-on and EOFF is the
integral of the instantaneous power loss during turn-off. All
tail losses are included in the calculation for EOFF; i.e. the
collector current equals zero (ICE = 0).
HGTG30N60C3D