Reliability investigation of repeated unclamped inductive switching in a diode-clamped SiC circuit breaker

Takamori, Taro; Wada, Keiji; Saito, Wataru; Nishizawa, Shin-ichi

doi:10.1016/j.microrel.2023.115119

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…In comparison to the Si material, the use of SiC material provides the clamping diodes with sufficient avalanche capability specifically designed for solidstate circuit breakers. Furthermore, the SiC MPS diodes indicated negligible fluctuations in electrical characteristics even after repetitive UIS events [40], [41], signifying their suitability for long-term usage. These contributions are valuable for prototypes integrating solid-state circuit breakers into high-density power module-based implementations for applications requiring repetitive cutoff uses.…”

Section: B Comparison Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…SiC merged pin-Schottky (MPS) diodes exhibit excellent performance under high surge current events and possess a high avalanche capability [38], [39]. Furthermore, the diodes exhibit beneficial properties in resisting device degradation under repetitive avalanche stress [40], [41]. These attributes render the SiC diodes well-suitable for managing energy dissipation in solid-state circuit breakers for LVDC distribution systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Paralleled SiC MOSFETs Circuit Breaker With a SiC MPS Diode for Avalanche Voltage Clamping

Takamori,

Wada,

Saito

et al. 2024

IEEE Open J. Power Electron.

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This paper proposes a solid-state circuit breaker comprising silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs and a SiC diode, based on the principle of avalanche voltage clamping. The key challenge in realizing a solid-state circuit breaker lies in reducing conduction loss. A parallel connection of power semiconductor devices is the suitable configuration that can meet these requirements. However, in such a configuration, the current balance during cutoff operation may be affected by the variation in the breakdown voltage characteristics of the power semiconductor devices. To address this issue, the proposed circuit breaker employs clamping with a SiC merged pin-Schottky (MPS) diode, with high avalanche tolerance and robust characteristics under repetitive avalanche events. The effectiveness of the proposed solid-state circuit breaker is validated through experiments conducted in an unclamped inductive switching (UIS) test circuit using a 400-V, 50-A DC distribution system. Eventually, the demonstrations indicate that the SiC diode clamping method contributes to more compact implementations for solid-state circuit breakers.

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Section: B Comparison Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%