In this paper, the authors discuss the way to a new 1200V trench IGBT structure. The combination of well designed trench cell geometry and a favourably adjusted vertical carrier concentration profile leads to a trench IGBT chip with both low static and dynamic losses and a degree of ruggedness similar to state of the art planar cell NPT IGBTs, especially excellent gate oxide properties, high turn-off capability and a square short circuit safe operating area up to 1200V.