SiC Materials And Devices, Volume 1
With contributions by recognized leaders in SiC technology and materials and device research, this book gives a comprehensive, up-to-date review of silicon carbide materials properties and devices.
TABLE OF CONTENTS SiC Materials And Devices, Volume 1
High Power SiC Pin Rectifiers
Ranbir Singh,
GeneSiC Semiconductor Inc.,
GeneSiC Semiconductor Inc.,
ranbir@ieee.org
High voltage PiN rectifiers made using conventional semiconductor materials such as Silicon are restricted to less than 20 kHz and less 120 C operation, thereby severely limiting the availability of advanced electronic hardware used for power grid (also called electric utility), energy storage, pulsed power, intelligent machinery and ultra high voltage solid state power conditioning. Such applications require high power density, very high frequency, and high temperature rectifiers to realize reasonably sized systems. SiC PiN Rectifiers are expected to play an enabling role in a variety of such high voltage applications because they have been shown to offer 2 to 3 orders of magnitude faster switching, high junction temperature capability, high current density operation, and much higher power densities as compared to Silicon.
1 Introduction
Properties of SiC that enable dramatically improved capabilities for SiC PiN rectifiers include: (a) an order of magnitude higher breakdown electric field; (b) a 3X wider bandgap; and (c) a 3X higher thermal conductivity than Silicon. A high breakdown electric field allows the design of SiC power devices with thinner and higher doped blocking layers. The large bandgap of SiC results in a much higher operating temperature and higher radiation hardness. The high thermal conductivity for SiC (4.9 C/W) allows dissipated heat to be readily extracted from the device. Hence, a larger power can be applied to the device for a given junction temperature. However, SiC bipolar rectifiers suffer from a 3x higher built-in junction voltage drop as...
Copyright World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 2006 under license agreement with Books24x7
