Infineon Showcases 650V TRENCHSTOP 5 – Performance of Best-in-Class IGBT Gains High Customer Demand

More than 400 customers have received samples and, with Infineon starting mass production in May 2013, many of them will begin pilot production.



TRENCHSTOP 5 is a quantum leap in IGBT performance providing dramatic system efficiency improvement compared to technologies currently available on the market. Customer feedback has verified this statement by reporting system efficiency gains of up to one percent compared to IGBTs offered by the competition. The efficiency gain, combined with higher breakthrough voltage for increased reliability, provides customers with a competitive edge and clear differentiation and thus accounts for the high uptake of customers.



Highest efficiency and power density are the key reasons why TRENCHSTOP 5 is the first choice for the boost stage in photovoltaic inverters switching between 16 kHz and 30 kHz, or UPS PFC stages and battery chargers switching between 20 kHz and 70 kHz. The increased efficiency allows for either lower junction temperatures during operation, which ensures higher lifetime reliability, or higher power density designs. The latter enables customers to rethink designs and adopt smaller packages, for example implementing a TO-220 package instead of TO-247.



Furthermore, designers have been fast at recognizing the value of the TRENCHSTOP 5 by using an IGBT for the first time in noise critical systems like audio-amplifiers. Due to its superior ruggedness and soft-switching behavior, TRENCHSTOP 5 enables them to attain a clean regulated rail voltage for the amplifier stage with wide input line ranges for highest audio quality and low system weight.



The outstanding TRENCHSTOP 5 efficiency results in 60 percent lower turn-off switching losses compared to Infineon’s HighSpeed (H3) family plus mild positive temperature coefficient of the saturation voltage, which is associated with the conduction losses. The gate charge is 2.5 times lower compared to H3, which translates into an IGBT that is easier to drive, offering a cost reduction since the driver can be smaller. Furthermore, TRENCHSTOP 5 features a temperature stable forward voltage drop of the fast recovery free-wheeling diode and reverse recovery time of less than 50ns. Low output capacitance provides outstanding light-load efficiency, which is perfect for designs that predominately operate below 40 percent of maximum rating.