Title :
Latest developments in Silicon Carbide MOSFETs: Advantages and benefits vs. application
Author :
Di Giovanni, Filippo ; Buonomo, Simone
Author_Institution :
Power Transistor Div., STMicroelectron., S.R.L., Catania, Italy
Abstract :
Wide band-gap semiconductors (WBG) have recently drawn a lot of interest as main switches for power conversion processes. Owing to their inherent properties, materials such as Silicon Carbide (SiC) offer some advantages over silicon representing a solution to the quest for increased power density, safer thermal operation with better efficiency and reduced system size. All these factors become essential in the industrial environment where they can significantly help contribute to reducing total losses, mitigating cooling requirements and minimizing environment impact. In this paper, we briefly list the main properties of SiC MOSFETs showing how they translate into advantages for the end-user. Also, a typical application is shown that attests to the remarkable opportunities this new material offers to power electronics systems´ designers.
Keywords :
power MOSFET; power conversion; silicon compounds; wide band gap semiconductors; SiC; WBG; cooling requirement; environment impact minimization; industrial environment; power conversion process; power density; power electronic system designers; reduced system size; silicon carbide MOSFET; switches; thermal operation; wide band-gap semiconductors; Decision support systems; Insulated gate bipolar transistors; JFETs; MOSFET; Silicon; Silicon carbide; Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT); Boost Converter; CCM Boost converter; Cascode; Figure-of-merit (FoM); GaN; On-losses; Periodic Table; SiC; Switching losses; Turn-off energy loss (Eoff); Wide bandgap (WBG);
Conference_Titel :
AEIT Annual Conference, 2013
Conference_Location :
Mondello
Print_ISBN :
978-8-8872-3734-4
DOI :
10.1109/AEIT.2013.6666801