29/10/2026
A variable frequency drive turns a three-phase AC supply into a motor speed controller.
The drive inverter does the work.
It switches a high-voltage DC bus through an IGBT bridge, feeding a variable-frequency three-phase output back to the motor.
That switching has to be fast and clean.
The IGBT also has to survive 1,350 V on the bus.
Diotec’s DIW040F135 is a 40 A, 1,350 V IGBT in a TO-247 package.
It carries an integrated freewheeling diode and switches between 80 and 100 kHz.
Engineers first demonstrated three-phase AC at the 1891 Frankfurt Exhibition, moving power 176 km from Lauffen.
Every variable frequency drive since has worked on the same architecture.
Inside the drive, the IGBT is what makes the frequency variable.