Status of silicon carbide power technology

Silicon carbide is a nearly ideal material for power switching devices and diodes. SiC has the potential to change the design, topology and circuits used in power electronics-especially where space, weight, power density and thermal management issues dominate. The compelling physical properties of SiC lead to exceptional performance: a ten fold higher breakdown voltage than silicon, ten-fold lower on-state resistance, a ten-fold higher switching speed, operational temperature and near immunity from snap-back. This paper examines the current status of SiC power semiconductor technology