The Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT), a well-established device dominantly used in the medium-to-high power conversion field, is sure to expand its use in the applications previously dominated by slower thyristors due to continuous and remarkable technological development. Accordingly, there is a growing desire to develop fast simulation IGBT models to accurately simulate switching waveforms, estimate device stresses, and predict switching/conduction losses in converter applications.

IGBT’s continuous advancement in switching and power handling capabilities has highlighted the need to further improve the characteristics of P-i-N diode, another important element of switching power converters. Diode manufacturers commonly use lifetime control to achieve a better trade-off between reverse-recovery and forward-conduction performances of the device.

This dissertation focuses on the development of compact and accurate physics-based model for both P-i-N diodes and IGBTs, which are capable of predicting precisely the characteristics of the devices under both forward conduction and turn-on/turn-off transient conditions. This dissertation provides three main contributions. First of all, a systematic parameter extraction procedure is proposed and validated for physical modeling of P-i-N diode with lifetime control. Such a procedure is not currently available in the literature. Secondly, a thorough investigation on the IGBT’s turn-on behavior under both resistive and inductive load is performed across a wide range of operation conditions, whereas the literature has mostly focused on the IGBT turn-off transients. Last but not least, an investigation is performed on the 2-D effects present at the MOS end of the IGBT drift region. A modified IGBT model with 2-D effects included is proposed and developed and a set of results are presented showing improvements in the concerned areas.