10-kV SiC MOSFET Power Module With Reduced Common-Mode Noise and Electric Field

The advancement of silicon carbide (SiC) power devices with voltage ratings exceeding 10 kV is expected to revolutionize medium- and high-voltage systems. However, present power module packages are limiting the performance of these unique switches. The objective of this research is to push the boundaries of high-density, high-speed, 10-kV power module packaging. The proposed package addresses the well-known electromagnetic and thermal challenges, as well as the prominent electrostatic and electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues associated with high-speed, 10-kV devices. The high-speed switching and high voltage rating of these devices causes significant EMI and high electric fields. Existing power module packages are unable to address these challenges, resulting in detrimental EMI and partial discharge that limit the converter operation. This article presents the design and testing of a 10-kV SiC mosfet power module that switches at a record 250 V/ns without compromising the signal and ground integrity due to an integrated screen reduces the common-mode current by ten times. This screen connection simultaneously increases the partial discharge inception voltage by more than 50%. With the integrated cooling system, the power module prototype achieves a power density of 4 W/mm 3

Design of a 10 kV SiC MOSFET-based high-density, high-efficiency, modular medium-voltage power converter

Simultaneously imposed challenges of high-voltage insulation, high dv/dt, high-switching frequency, fast protection, and thermal management associated with the adoption of 10 kV SiC MOSFET, often pose nearly insurmountable barriers to potential users, undoubtedly hindering their penetration in medium-voltage (MV) power conversion. Key novel technologies such as enhanced gate-driver, auxiliary power supply network, PCB planar dc-bus, and high-density inductor are presented, enabling the SiC-based designs in modular MV converters, overcoming aforementioned challenges. However, purely substituting SiC design instead of Si-based ones in modular MV converters, would expectedly yield only limited gains. Therefore, to further elevate SiC-based designs, novel high-bandwidth control strategies such as switching-cycle control (SCC) and integrated capacitor-blocked transistor (ICBT), as well as high-performance/high-bandwidth communication network are developed. All these technologies combined, overcome barriers posed by state-of-the-art Si designs and unlock system level benefits such as very high power density, high-efficiency, fast dynamic response, unrestricted line frequency operation, and improved power quality, all demonstrated throughout this paper

Surge Current Capability of Ga2O3 Schottky Diodes

International audienceβ-Ga2O3 is an attractive material to build power electronic semiconductor devices, because because of its ultra-wide bandgap and the availability of large-diameter wafers growing from its own melt. However, device performance may be limited by the relatively poor thermal conductivity of the material. In this paper, we investigate the behavior of β-Ga2O3 Schottky diodes in the condition of forward current surge. An analytical electro-thermal device model is calibrated with experimental devices and TCAD simulations. Then this device model is incorporated into a SPICE electro-thermal network model, which is used to simulate the device temperature rise during the surge transient, considering various device and packaging configurations (i.e. various chip thicknesses, single-side or double-side cooling). It is found that providing heat is removed through both sides of the die, a β-Ga2O3 Schottky diode offers a robustness to surge current comparable to that of a SiC Schottky diode. The low thermal conductivity of β-Ga2O3 is found to be balanced by the enhanced heat extraction from top-side cooling as well as the intrinsic low on-resistance (and conduction loss) increase with temperature in β-Ga2O3 devices

Surge Current Capability of Ga2O3 Schottky Diodes

International audienceβ-Ga2O3 is an attractive material to build power electronic semiconductor devices, because because of its ultra-wide bandgap and the availability of large-diameter wafers growing from its own melt. However, device performance may be limited by the relatively poor thermal conductivity of the material. In this paper, we investigate the behavior of β-Ga2O3 Schottky diodes in the condition of forward current surge. An analytical electro-thermal device model is calibrated with experimental devices and TCAD simulations. Then this device model is incorporated into a SPICE electro-thermal network model, which is used to simulate the device temperature rise during the surge transient, considering various device and packaging configurations (i.e. various chip thicknesses, single-side or double-side cooling). It is found that providing heat is removed through both sides of the die, a β-Ga2O3 Schottky diode offers a robustness to surge current comparable to that of a SiC Schottky diode. The low thermal conductivity of β-Ga2O3 is found to be balanced by the enhanced heat extraction from top-side cooling as well as the intrinsic low on-resistance (and conduction loss) increase with temperature in β-Ga2O3 devices

Surge Current Capability of Ultra-Wide-Bandgap Ga2O3 Schottky Diodes

International audienceβ-Ga 2 O 3 is an emerging ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductor material offering superior power material limits over Si, SiC, and GaN as well as the availability of large-diameter wafers growing from its own melt. However, β-Ga 2 O 3 devices performance may be limited by the relatively poor thermal conductivity of the material. In this paper, we investigate the behavior of β-Ga 2 O 3 Schottky diodes in the condition of forward current surge to explore their electro-thermal ruggedness and the related thermal management. An analytical electro-thermal device model is calibrated with experimental devices and TCAD simulations. Then this device model is incorporated into a SPICE electro-thermal network model, which is used to simulate the device temperature rise during the surge transient, considering various device and packaging configurations (i.e. various chip thicknesses and chip orientations). It is found that provided heat is removed from the junction side, a β-Ga 2 O 3 Schottky diode offers a robustness to surge current exceeding that of a SiC Schottky diode. The low thermal conductivity of β-Ga 2 O 3 is found to be overcome by the enhanced heat extraction from junction-side cooling, as well as by the intrinsically small temperature dependence of the on-resistance (and conduction loss) of β-Ga 2 O 3 devices

Characterization of 4 kV Charge-Balanced SiC MOSFETs

International audienceThis work demonstrates a novel charge-balanced (CB) silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET that boasts a specific on-resistance of 10 mΩ•cm 2 at 4 kV breakdown voltage, surpassing the 1-D SiC unipolar limit. This is achieved through buried p-doped regions inside the drift layers, which are more easily scalable to higher voltages compared to the p-doped pillars used in super-junction (SJ) devices. Medium-voltage CB SiC MOSFETs with different p-doped bus widths and pitches have been fabricated and characterized in this work. The unique microstructure of these devices causes interesting macro-scale characteristics, such as distinctive steps in the capacitance-voltage curves and a turn-on voltage tail that reduces with increased temperature. The switching energy of the CB MOSFET is 92% lower than that of an IGBT at 150 °C. This paper presents and interprets these intriguing static and dynamic characteristics

Low Thermal Resistance (0.5 K/W) Ga₂O₃ Schottky Rectifiers With Double-Side Packaging

International audienceThe low thermal conductivity of Ga2O3 has arguably been the most serious concern for Ga2O3 power and RF devices. Despite many simulation studies, there is no experimental report on the thermal resistance of a large-area, packaged Ga2O3 device. This work fills this gap by demonstrating a 15-A double-side packaged Ga2O3 Schottky barrier diode (SBD) and measuring its junction-to-case thermal resistance (RθJC) in the bottom-side-and junction-side-cooling configurations. The RθJC characterization is based on the transient dual interface method, i.e., JEDEC 51-14 standard. The RθJC of the junction-and bottom-cooled Ga2O3 SBD was measured to be 0.5 K/W and 1.43 K/W, respectively, with the former RθJC lower than that of similarly-rated commercial SiC SBDs. This low RθJC is attributable to the heat extraction directly from the Schottky junction instead of through the Ga2O3 chip. The RθJC lower than that of commercial SiC devices proves the viability of Ga2O3 devices for high-power applications and manifest the significance of proper packaging for their thermal management