TABLE OF CONTENTS In this chapter, an overview of power MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) semiconductor switching devices will be given. The detailed discussion of the physical structure, fabrication, and physical behavior of the device and packaging is beyond the scope of this chapter. The emphasis here will be given on the terminal i-v switching characteristics of the available device, turn-on, and turn-off switching characteristics, PSPICE modeling and its current, voltage, and switching limits. Even though, most of today's available semiconductor power devices are made of silicon or germanium materials, other materials such as gallium arsenide, diamond, and silicon carbide are currently being tested.
One of the main contributions that led to the growth of the power electronics field has been the unprecedented advancement in the semiconductor technology, especially with respect to switching speed and power handling capabilities. The area of power electronics started by the introduction of the silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) in 1958. Since then, the field has grown in parallel with the growth of the power semiconductor device technology. In fact, the history of power electronics is very much connected to the development of switching devices and it emerged as a separate discipline when high power bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) and MOSFETs devices where introduced in the 1960s and 1970s. Since then, the introduction of new devices has been accompanied with dramatic...
