27 kV, 20 A 4H-SiC n-IGBTs

Abstract

In this work, we report our recently developed 27 kV, 20 A 4H-SiC n-IGBTs. Blocking voltages exceeding 24 kV were achieved by utilizing thick (210 μm and 230 μm), lightly doped N-drift layers with an appropriate edge termination. Prior to the device fabrication, an ambipolar carrier lifetime of greater than 10 μs was measured on both drift regions by the microwave photoconductivity decay (μPCD) technique. The SiC n-IGBTs exhibit an on-state voltage of 11.8 V at a forward current of 20 A and a gate bias of 20 V at 25 °C. The devices have a chip size of 0.81 cm2and an active conducting area of 0.28 cm2. Double-pulse switching measurements carried out at up to 16 kV and 20 A demonstrate the robust operation of the device under hard-switched conditions; coupled thermal analysis indicates that the devices can operate at a forward current of up to 10 A in a hard-switched environment at a frequency of more than 3 kHz and a bus voltage of 14 kV.

10 kV Silicon Carbide PiN Diodes—From Design to Packaged Component Characterization

“…Marketing of SiC devices has expanded during the past decade; transistors and diodes are now available at lower cost. Although some high-voltage devices have been produced [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], the ones industrially available are mostly metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET) and junction-barrier Schottky (JBS) diodes up to 1700 V [8]. Despite the fact that reliability studies have yet to be carried out, unipolar devices seem to be suitable for this voltage range and show state-of-the-art characteristics both at conduction and switching.…”

MMC converter cells employing ultrahigh-voltage SiC bipolar power semiconductors

“…SiC MOSFETs have reached 15 kV blocking voltage capability [4]. Bipolar SiC devices have reached beyond 20 kV blocking voltage capability in research laboratories, for example 7-39 kV PiN diodes [5], 27.5 kV integrated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) [6], 20 kV gate turn-off thyristors (GTO) [7], and 22 kV Emitter turn-off (ETO) thyristors [8].…”

Potential of ultra-high voltage silicon carbide semiconductor devices

“…Carrier lifetime enhancement processes have been developed to eliminate carbon vacancies [5,6] and recent studies show charge carrier lifetimes above 20 µs in high voltage SiC PiN-diodes [7]. The carrier lifetime enhancement processes might be further developed in order to provide futuristic bipolar devices with blocking voltages beyond those of the state-of-the-art researchlevel devices of today, which are capable of blocking voltages in the range of 12-27 kV [8][9][10][11][12].…”

“…SiC IGBT knee voltage and specific on-resistance extracted from devices in literature[8][9][10][11][12]. Simulated SiC IGBT conduction power loss density and switching power loss density.…”