Advances in power switch technology for 40 V - 300 V applications

Power switch technology has been advancing dramatically in recent years. Breakthroughs occur regularly in current density, switching performance, thermal design, ruggedness, and cost. All of these factors contribute to improvements in efficiency, power density, and system cost of today´s power electronic systems. This paper discusses some of these developments in the 40 V-300 V class, especially as they could apply to selected applications such as isolated DC/DC converters, switching audio amplifiers, automotive motion control, and plasma displays. Careful design and characterization techniques are essential to assure avalanche current capability and forward bias safe operating area, and various technologies are compared. Trench and planar design and performance differences are highlighted. Packaging improvements such as the DirectFET are essential for improving thermal design and reducing package electrical parasitics