What Is A Power Semiconductor Device？

Power semiconductor components are semiconductor components used for power control belonging to analog semiconductors, usually called power devices, including rectifier diodes, power transistors (power MOSFET, insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT)), thyristors and gates. About turn-off thyristors (GTOs), triacs, etc. An element that enables current to flow without loss (ideally) in one direction regardless of whether energization control is possible is called a "valve device", and a power semiconductor element belongs to the valve, and is called a "semiconductor valve device".

With the advancement of semiconductor technology, the response speed of handling high-power components has increased year by year, contributing to the miniaturization of the entire power control device. At the same time, from the standpoint of energy saving and low calorific value, the low loss performance is improved, and the range of applications is expanded.

The power module and the control circuit and the drive circuit and the protection circuit that pay multiple components in one package are also modularized, including such an intelligent power module is (IPM) also.

In high-voltage applications, high-speed responsiveness is required while increasing resistance to electromagnetic noise and insulation performance, so semiconductor devices that use optical signals as trigger sources, such as optically triggered thyristors, are also used.

In recent years, the application field of power semiconductor devices has expanded from industrial control and consumer electronics to new energy, rail transit, smart grid, frequency conversion home appliances and many other markets, and the market scale has shown a steady growth trend. Judging from the current market demand, silicon-based MOSFET, silicon-based IGBT and silicon carbide are the main products of power semiconductor discrete devices.

China is the world's most important consumer of power devices, and the main products of power device segments rank first in China's market share. Although major international manufacturers currently occupy the main market, their high-end products are too expensive to meet the rapidly exploding domestic market demand. As domestic enterprises gradually break through the technical bottleneck of high-end products in the industry, my country's dependence on imports of power semiconductor devices will be further weakened, and the import substitution effect will be significantly enhanced. Domestic enterprises are expected to deeply benefit from the domestic substitution process. With the rapid development of emerging industries, the scale of the power semiconductor market is accelerating.