Reliable Operation of 1200-V SiC Vertical Junction-Field-Effect-Transistor Subjected to 16,000-Pulse Hard Switching Stressing

Abstract

A necessity for the successful commercialization of SiC power devices is their long term reliability under the switching conditions encountered in application. Normally-ON 1200 V SiC JFETs were stressed in hard-switching conditions to determine their fault handling capabilities. The hard-switching included single shot tests ranging from drain voltages of 100 V to 500 V and repetition rate tests at 1 Hz, 5 Hz, 10 Hz, and 100 Hz with peak currents exceeding 100 A (8 times the rated current at 250 W/cm22). The JFET conduction and blocking-voltage characteristics are unchanged after 4,000 pulsed and numerous single shot hard switching events proving the devices are reliable for handling high surge-current faults.