ISSN:
1662-9752
Source:
Scientific.Net: Materials Science & Technology / Trans Tech Publications Archiv 1984-2008
Topics:
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
Notes:
Today a main focus in high efficiency power electronics based on silicon carbide (SiC)lies on the development of an unipolar SiC switch. This paper comments on the advantages of SiCswitching devices in comparison to silicon (Si) switches, the decision for the SiC JFET against theSiC MOSFET, and will show new experimental results on SiC JFETs with focus on the productionrelated topics like process window and parameter homogeneity which can be achieved with thepresented device concept.Due to material properties unipolar SiC switches have, other than their Si high voltage counterparts,very low gate charge, good body diode performance, and reduced switching losses because of thepotential of lower in- and output capacitances. The most common unipolar switch is the MOSFET.However, the big challenge in the case of a SiC MOSFET is the gate oxide. A gate oxide on SiCthat provides adequate performance and reliability is missing until now. An alternative unipolarswitching device is a normally-on JFET. The normally-on behavior is a benefit for current drivenapplications. If a normally-off behavior is necessary the JFET can be used together with a lowvoltage Si MOSFET in a cascode arrangement. Recently manufactured SiC JFETs show results invery good accordance to device simulation and demonstrate the possibility to fabricate a SiC JFETwithin a mass production. A growing market opportunity for such a SiC switch becomes visible
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://www.tib-hannover.de/fulltexts/2011/0528/02/20/transtech_doi~10.4028%252Fwww.scientific.net%252FMSF.600-603.901.pdf
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