Silicon carbide power device development for industrial markets

Abstract

SiC power devices have the ability to greatly outperform their Silicon counterparts. SiC material quality and cost issues have largely been overcome, allowing SiC to start competing directly with more traditional Si devices. 150 mm substrates and epitaxy are now commercially available. Commercially released 4H-SiC MOSFETs with a specific on-resistance (RON,SP) of 5 mΩcm2 for a 1200 V rating are now available, and research has further optimized the device design and fabrication processes to greatly expand the voltage ratings from 900 V up to 15 kV for a much wider range of high-power, high-frequency energy-conversion applications. Performance for voltage ratings from 900 V up to 15 kV have been achieved with a RON,SP as low as 2.3 mΩcm2 for a breakdown voltage (BV) of 1230 V and 900 V-rating, 2.7 mΩcm2 for a BV of 1620 V and 1200 V-rating, 10.6 mΩcm2 for a BV of 4160 V and 3300 V-rating, 123 mΩcm2 for a BV of 12 kV and 10 kV-rating, and 208 mΩcm2 for a BV of 15.5 kV and 15 kV-rating. All of these devices exhibit very high frequency switching performance over silicon IGBTs. For even higher voltages, bipolar devices in SiC have been demonstrated from 15 kV up to 27 kV. SiC GTOs have been shown up to 22 kV with 200 A capability. SiC n-IGBTs are reported up to 27 kV, with 20 A capability. This is the highest voltage semiconductor device reported to date.