For the first time, a new concept of LDE-IGBT (local drift-region enhanced IGBT) is proposed and verified by two-dimensional (213) device-circuit mixed simulations. The structure of the proposed device is almost identical to that of the conventional IGBT, except for an additional n(+) plugged region under the gate contact. The proposed device exhibits larger maximum operating current, meaning higher current capability, which is expected for high-power operation. The simulation results indicate the LDE-IGBT can obtain a low on-state voltage drop with negligible increase of turn-off time due to lower sensitivity of turn-off time to the novel structure. Therefore, the trade-off relation between on-state voltage and turn-off time is improved and decoupled efficiently. Finally, the effects of three novel structure parameters on the on-state voltage are demonstrated in detail. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.