Principle

Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs) are today's state-of-the-art power electronics for the traction system of electric (and diesel-electric) rail vehicles. They replace the previous inverter generation represented by GTO (gate turn-off thyristors).

In contract to conventional transistors, IGBTs operate at very high currents (> 1000 A). The principle benefit of IGBTs over GTOs is a much (3 to 4 times) higher switching frequency. This reduces the current required and therefore the heat generated, giving smaller and lighter units. The high switching frequencies also smoothen the acceleration process and reduce the traction noise.

Fields of application

Power electronics based on IGBTs are used in a number of fields in industry and transportation.