In this paper, the striped anode concept is evaluated, for the first time in a MOS controlled power device, as a method of controlling the anode injection efficiency and enhancing of the turn-off performance. Simulation results using a 2d-mixed mode device-circuit system indicate that rather than having a blanket implanted anode, a striped anode structure can result in a significantly improved trade-off between turn-off energy losses and the on-state voltage drop. It is shown that when applied to the 6.5 kV IGBT, the improvement can be more than a factor of two when switching 30 A cm(-2), in comparison to conventional uniform lifetime control. A striped anode structure consists of high injection regions (p(+) stripes), sandwiched between thin lightly doped p(-) regions of low injection efficiency. The p+ stripes provide an optimum level of conductivity modulation required for a given on-state voltage drop in the N-drift region of a planar IGBT, while the low efficiency regions accelerate device turn-off. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.