Replacing Si to SiC: Opportunities and challenges

While silicon carbide (SiC) is now believed to be a potential replacement to leading horse material silicon (Si) on many power fronts, this paper addresses the merit of SiC material for a diverse range of power applications. Several commercial SiC power modules have been characterized and evaluated under various test conditions and hence strengthening the confidence level of their usage in the field. Compared to Si counterpart, almost 70 - 80 % lower switching loss is generally observed for SiC devices. On-resistance of 4.0 - 8.0 mΩ is generally obtained for 1.2 - 1.7 kV power modules with current rating of 120 - 300 A. A short circuit survivability time of almost 3 - 4 μs is achieved when tested to their nominal supply voltage condition. A hybrid concept (i.e., parallel connection of Si-IGBT with SiC-MOSFET) has been evaluated as a potential replacement to either full Si or full SiC solutions.

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