Power MOSFETs
What is a Power MOSFET?
A power MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) is a field-effect transistor with a MOS structure. The structure of power MOSFETs is classified into horizontal type and vertical type, and the main products of our power MOSFETs are vertical type. Vertical type is classified into planar type and trench type.
The following figure shows an example of a section view of a planar power MOSFET (N-channel). This section describes a planar power MOSFET (N-channel) as an example. In vertical power MOSFETs in which the current flows in the vertical direction, the on-resistance per chip area is reduced because of miniaturization.
Features of Power MOSFETs
The features of power MOSFETs when compared with bipolar transistors and IGBTs are shown below.
| Item | Power MOSFET | Bipolar Transistor | IGBT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Structure (arrows indicate the direction of the drain current / collector current) |  N-channel |
 NPN |
 |
| Circuit Diagram |  |
 |
 |
| Control Systems | Voltage control | Current control | Voltage control |
| Driving Power | Small | Large | Small |
| Switching Speed | Fast | Slow | Medium |
| Breakdown Voltage | About 30 V to 800 V | About 50 V to 800 V | About 400 V to 1200 V |
| Increasing the Current | Easy (about 1 A to 100 A) | Difficult (about 2 A to 25 A) | Easy (about 15 A to 40 A) |
| Applications |
|
|
|