The IGBT: The CPU of the Electronic Power Industry

There is a small device that is rarely heard of in everyday life, but is indispensable in almost any place with electricity – the IGBT, the CPU of the electronic power industry. From consumer electronics, such as the Bluetooth headphones we use, laptop power adapters, and household frequency converters, to the frequency converters in elevators, electric drives in new energy vehicles, charging stations, inverters in photovoltaic power generation, traction inverters in high-speed trains, and even the subway we take to work every day, IGBTs are used in almost every application that requires electricity.

In fact, this device is just a small chip, the core chip for energy conversion and application. While we need a CPU to control our computer, we need an IGBT to control energy conversion. In principle, the IGBT is simply a power switch that opens and closes thousands of times per second, switching between DC and AC, with voltage regulation and frequency conversion capabilities – the means we commonly use. Essentially, it is a transformer, as the voltage of the power grid is 220 volts and AC, while the voltage used to charge our phones is 5 volts and DC. To effectively charge our devices, an IGBT is required to perform the process of AC-DC conversion and voltage regulation.

For example, as the world strives for carbon neutrality and increased use of clean energy, solar energy produced by photovoltaic cells is DC, while the electricity used in households is AC. The device responsible for converting DC to AC is the photovoltaic inverter, which also requires IGBTs. Although widely used, do not underestimate the technical complexity of this device, especially in critical fields such as the IGBTs used in new energy vehicles, which require high stability and safety as they directly impact the safety of the driver and passengers.

Infineon, Mitsubishi, and FUJI collectively occupy 60% of the global IGBT module market s hare, with Infineon being the industry leader, particularly in high-end applications.