Pulsed evaluation of silicon carbide power switches
Date
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
High power electronics are approaching their limit with Silicon (Si) semiconductor devices, and a new material will soon be needed to take over in high stress and high temperature environments. Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a newly introduced material that may be the next step for a high power semiconductor material. Testing of this material has been done previously and this is a slightly different approach/continuation of that work. The work done concluded that SiC is a durable material that will be a good solution for high power semiconductor devices. This testing has been done to help further characterize and determine the viability of SiC JFET devices at room temperature and 150°C. The series of tests included are designed to highly stress the device and try to find out if any other properties of SiC are different from Si. The tests performed on these devices are millions of high current discharges through the devices at room temperature and 150°C. These conditions push the material to its limit and are far beyond what Silicon devices could handle. The results from all the testing is documented and analyzed to better understand how this new material reacts under high stress. The tests concluded that SiC is a very durable material and should be tested further to continue the advancement of the understanding and use of this material.