©2001 Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation

HGTG30N60C3D Rev. B

Handling Precautions for IGBTs

Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors are susceptible to gate-

insulation damage by the electrostatic discharge of energy

through the devices. When handling these devices, care

should be exercised to assure that the static charge built in the

handler’s body capacitance is not discharged through the

device. With proper handling and application procedures,

however, IGBTs are currently being extensively used in

production by numerous equipment manufacturers in military,

industrial and consumer applications, with virtually no damage

problems due to electrostatic discharge. IGBTs can be

handled safely if the following basic precautions are taken:

1. Prior to assembly into a circuit, all leads should be kept

shorted together either by the use of metal shorting

springs or by the insertion into conductive material such

as “ECCOSORBD

 LD26” or equivalent.

2. When devices are removed by hand from their carriers,

the hand being used should be grounded by any suitable

means - for example, with a metallic wristband.

3. Tips of soldering irons should be grounded.

4. Devices should never be inserted into or removed from

circuits with power on.

5. Gate Voltage Rating - Never exceed the gate-voltage

permanent damage to the oxide layer in the gate region.

6. Gate Termination - The gates of these devices are

essentially capacitors. Circuits that leave the gate

open-circuited or floating should be avoided. These

conditions can result in turn-on of the device due to voltage

buildup on the input capacitor due to leakage currents or

pickup.

7. Gate Protection - These devices do not have an internal

monolithic zener diode from gate to emitter. If gate

protection is required an external zener is recommended.

Operating Frequency Information

Operating frequency information for a typical device (Figure 13)

is presented as a guide for estimating device performance

for a specific application. Other typical frequency vs collector

for a typical unit in Figures 4, 7, 8, 11 and 12. The operating

based on measurements of a typical device and is bounded

by the maximum rated junction temperature.

Deadtime (the denominator) has been arbitrarily held to 10%

of the on-state time for a 50% duty factor. Other definitions

Device turn-off delay can establish an additional frequency

is important when controlling output ripple under a lightly

loaded condition.

The sum of device switching and conduction losses must

integral of the instantaneous power loss during turn-off. All

HGTG30N60C3D