Application-focused modeling procedure for 1.2kV SiC MOSFET's

Abstract

This work presents a novel modeling procedure for SiC power MOSFETs based on the principal concerns of an application designer. The main emphasis of this work is to identify the top priorities of a model suitable for designing power electronics applications and to utilize this knowledge to develop an optimized, empirically-validated model. This paper provides several contributions to the rapidly-advancing field of SiC MOSFET modeling. First, the switching characteristics of SiC MOSFET's are studied and particular regions of the I-V space are identified which dominate the transient behavior of the device under inductively-loaded conditions. Second, a sub-circuit-based model topology is proposed, which balances the need for accuracy against the application designer's need for computational efficiency. Third, a MATLAB-based tuning procedure is introduced that leverages a powerful optimization algorithm and automatically invokes the SPICE environment to generate model output for tuning and validation purposes. Fourth, empirical validation of the developed model is provided by comparison of the transient model output with double-pulse test results. The outcome of this work is a simple and computationally-efficient model for 1.2 kV SiC MOSFET's which nevertheless maintains sufficient accuracy to satisfy the needs of power electronics application designers.