Switching Power Converters, 2nd Edition

2	High-Power Semiconductor Devices

2.1    A VIEW ON THE POWER SEMICONDUCTOR MARKET

Power semiconductor components are at the core of any power electronic converter. They have a history of more than 50 years, reach in technology development and market success. Since the technology behind these devices is not new, the differences between the newly released components and the role of these changes are not always easy to understand for a student. For this reason, a brief market survey is herein presented with the goal of outlining why efforts are made for certain performance indices of the power semiconductor devices. It is also important to understand the specifics of the semiconductor industry. Since production is based on large capital equipment, ...