Transient analysis of Silicon Carbide MOSFET switches

This research was conducted to determine the transient performance of Silicon Carbide MOSFET devices. The device under test for these results is a CREE CMF20120D D-MOSFET rated for a blocking voltage of 1200 V and a forward conduction current of 20 A. The first test involves testing the limit of voltage rise time, or the dV/dt of these devices to determine when the device turns itself on. The second test studies the effects of large current pulses, 10x the rated current, on these devices to determine how well these devices are able to handle over current situations. For both of these tests a test bed had to be designed and built.