How to control SiC BJT with high efficiency?

Abstract

SiC Bipolar Junction Transistor has many benefits such as low on-state voltage drop, high switching speed and high maximum operating temperature. However it has one major disadvantage that it needs current to be turned on. This causes an increased power requirement of the driver circuit compared to voltage controlled devices like MOSFETs and IGBTs. The proposed driving concept is based on a verified Darlington typology together with a voltage compensation component which gives a solution to this problem. The proposed driving concept is evaluated by both simulation and experimental results. The investigation of parallel connection of SiC BJT transistors that use the proposed drive concept is also included in this paper