IGBT short-circuit failure modes have been under research for many years, successfully paving the way for device short-circuit ruggedness improvement. The aim of this paper is to classify and discuss the recent contributions about IGBT short-circuit failure modes, in order to establish the current state of the art and trends in this area. First, a 3D-SCSOA is introduced as the IGBT's operational boundary to divide the short-circuit failure modes of device into short-circuit VDC/Vrated-ISC SOA limiting and short-circuit endurance time limiting groups. Then, the discussion is centered on currently reported IGBT short-circuit failure modes in terms of their relationships with the 3D-SCSOA characteristics. In addition, further investigation on the interaction of 3D-SCSOA characteristics is implemented to motivate advanced contributions in future dependency research of device short-circuit failure modes on temperature. Consequently, a comprehensive and thoughtful review of where the development of short-circuit failure mode researches of IGBT stands and is heading is provided.Index terms-High power IGBTs, Short-circuit failure mode, 3D-SCSOA,
Self-heating, Temperature dependencyNone of the material in this paper has been published or is under consideration for publication elsewhere.