New generation MOS controlled power devices and their applications

Power integrated circuits and devices are at the heart of many system applications ranging from more or less conventional analog circuits operated at non-standard voltage levels to complex systems composed of parallel arrangements of multi-layer devices such as MOSFETs, bipolar transistors and thyristor devices. Driven by the rapid advances in device technology and the demands for new, more efficient electronic systems, new generations of MOS controlled power devices are entering the market place. This is true even for very high voltage applications, where the once secure position of the Gate-Turn-Off Thyristor (GTO) is being challenged today by new MOS-controlled switch elements such as the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT).