On Switching Inductive Loads with Power Transistors
Ralph E. Locher · IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics and Control Instrumentation · 1970
Any switch handling inductive loads must, at some time or another, dissipate the energy stored in the inductance. In the case of a knife switch, this energy can be both seen and heard as an electric spark. In the case of a transistor, this energy is dissipated as heat and the resultant junction temperature rise can lead to catastrophic failure within the device.1The failure mechanism is referred to as ``reverse-biased second breakdown'', hereinafter termed RBSB.