10 kV, 120 A SiC half H-bridge power MOSFET modules suitable for high frequency, medium voltage applications

Das, Mrinal K.; Capell, Craig; Grider, David; Leslie, Scott; Ostop, J.; Raju, Ravi; Schutten, Michael; Nasadoski, Jeffrey; Hefner, Allen R.

doi:10.1109/ecce.2011.6064129

Cited by 193 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The higher band-gap and thermal conductivity in comparison to silicon (Si) makes it a promising material to achieve efficient, compact and simpler converter topologies. The 10 kV SiC N-MOSFETs have been reported and demonstrated for a Solid State Transformer application [1]. The higher voltage devices were realized by development of SiC N-IGBTs with voltage range from 12.5 kV to beyond 20 kV [2]- [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medium voltage power converter design and demonstration using 15 kV SiC N-IGBTs

Kadavelugu

Krishna

Patel

et al. 2015

2015 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC)

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This paper summarizes the different steps that have been undertaken to design medium voltage power converters using the state-of-the-art 15 kV SiC N-IGBTs. The 11 kV switching characterization results, 11 kV high dv/dt gate driver validation, and the heat-run test results of the SiC IGBT at 10 kV, 550 W/cm 2 (active area) have been recently reported as individual topics. In this paper, it is attempted to link all these individual topics and present them as a complete subject from the double pulse tests to the converter design, for evaluating these novel high voltage power semiconductor devices. In addition, the demonstration results of two-level H-Bridge and three-level NPC converters, both at 10 kV dc input, are being presented for the first-time. Lastly, the performance of two-chip IGBT modules for increased current capability and demonstration of three-level poles, built using these modules, at 10 kV dc input with sine-PWM and square-PWM modulation for rectifier and dc-dc stages of a three-phase solid state transformer are presented.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medium voltage power converter design and demonstration using 15 kV SiC N-IGBTs

Kadavelugu

Krishna

Patel

et al. 2015

2015 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC)

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“…[5][6][7] SiC devices in particular have a very high blocking voltage, into the tens of kilovolts for a typical die thickness, and can also operate up to 600°C. 2,3,8 This high blocking voltage reduces the number of levels and devices needed to meet the voltage requirements of a given medium to high voltage system. Faster switching speeds of these WBG materials allow for the reduction of switching losses and reduced magnetics size.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[1][2][3][4] Higher voltages allow more power to be transmitted at lower currents and fewer switches are needed in multi-level converters to reach elevated voltages. 4 Silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) power electronic devices have enabled much of this advancement due to their superior bandgap energy, electrical breakdown strength, and, in the case of SiC, thermal conductivity and operational temperatures compared with silicon (Si).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advanced Materials for High Temperature, High Performance, Wide Bandgap Power Modules

O'Neal¹,

McGee²,

McPherson³

et al. 2015

Journal of Elec Materi

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Advanced packaging materials must be utilized to take full advantage of the benefits of the superior electrical and thermal properties of wide bandgap power devices in the development of next generation power electronics systems. In this manuscript, the use of advanced materials for key packaging processes and components in multi-chip power modules will be discussed. For example, to date, there has been significant development in silver sintering paste as a high temperature die attach material replacement for conventional solder-based attach due to the improved thermal and mechanical characteristics as well as lower processing temperatures. In order to evaluate the bond quality and performance of this material, shear strength, thermal characteristics, and void quality for a number of silver sintering paste materials were analyzed as a die attach alternative to solder. In addition, as high voltage wide bandgap devices shift from engineering samples to commercial components, passivation materials become key in preventing premature breakdown in power modules. High temperature, high dielectric strength potting materials were investigated to be used to encapsulate and passivate components internal to a power module. The breakdown voltage up to 30 kV and corresponding leakage current for these materials as a function of temperature is also presented. Lastly, high temperature plastic housing materials are important for not only discrete devices but also for power modules. As the operational temperature of the device and/or ambient temperature increases, the mechanical strength and dielectric properties are dramatically reduced. Therefore, the electrical characteristics such as breakdown voltage and leakage current as a function of temperature for housing materials are presented.

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“…The 10 kV 4H-SiC MOSFETs are viable high voltage devices with low on-resistance while allowing switching frequencies beyond 20 kHz [4]. But, like in the case of Si, MOSFETs are not feasible for higher voltage due to increased drift resistance (due to unipolar nature) which is amplified further with temperature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, the multilevel topologies need complex controllers and suffer from voltage and power balancing problems [2]. Owing to these problems, there has been a considerable interest to develop high voltages devices (> 10 kV) using SiC [3], [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of 15 kV SiC n-IGBT and its application considerations for high power converters

Kadavelugu¹,

Bhattacharya²,

Ryu³

et al. 2013

2013 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition

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The 4H-SiC n-IGBT is a promising power semiconductor device for medium voltage power conversion. Currently, Cree has successfully built 15 kV n-IGBTs. These IGBTs are pivotal for the smart grid power conversion systems and medium voltage drives. The need for complex multi-level topologies or series connected devices can be eliminated, while achieving reduced power loss, by using the SiC IGBT. In this paper, characteristics of the 15 kV n-IGBT have been reported for the first time. The turn-on and turn-off transitions of the 15 kV, 20 A IGBT have been experimentally evaluated up to 11 kV. This is highest switching characterization voltage ever reported on a single power semiconductor device. The paper includes static characteristics up to 25 A (forward) and 12 kV (blocking). The dependency of the power loss with voltage, current and temperature are provided. In addition, the basic converter design considerations using this ultrahigh voltage IGBT for high power conversion applications are presented. Also, a comparative evaluation is reported with an IGBT with thicker field-stop buffer layer as a means to show flexibility in choosing the IGBT design parameters based on the power converter frequency and power rating specification. Finally, power loss comparison of the IGBTs and MOSFET is provided to consummate the results for a complete reference.

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10 kV, 120 A SiC half H-bridge power MOSFET modules suitable for high frequency, medium voltage applications

Cited by 193 publications

References 3 publications

Medium voltage power converter design and demonstration using 15 kV SiC N-IGBTs

Medium voltage power converter design and demonstration using 15 kV SiC N-IGBTs

Advanced Materials for High Temperature, High Performance, Wide Bandgap Power Modules

Characterization of 15 kV SiC n-IGBT and its application considerations for high power converters

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