2023 journal article

Silicon Carbide Power Devices: Progress and Future Outlook

IEEE JOURNAL OF EMERGING AND SELECTED TOPICS IN POWER ELECTRONICS, 11(3), 2400–2411.

By: B. Baliga  n

author keywords: 4H-silicon carbide (SiC); Baliga short-circuit improvement concept (BaSIC) topology; Baliga's figure-of-merit (BFOM); bidirectional field effect transistor (BiDFET); JBSFET; junction-barrier-Schottky (JBS) diode; monolithic reverse blocking transistor (MRBT); MOSFET; planar-gate; short-circuit (SC) capability; trench-gate
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (OpenAlex)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: July 31, 2023

Silicon carbide (SiC) power devices have become commercialized and are being adopted for many applications after 40 years of effort to produce large diameter wafers and high-performance device structures. This article provides a historical perspective of the key breakthroughs that were needed to make progress toward this goal. The junction-barrier-Schottky (JBS) rectifier concept was a critical innovation required to make SiC power Schottky rectifiers viable. The Baliga-Pair or cascode concept was an intermediate step to realize a practical SiC power switch in the 1990 s. An essential unique innovation created in the 1990 s was the shielded planar SiC power MOSFET structure that is now commonly used for commercial products. Shielded trench-gate SiC power MOSFETs were also proposed in the 1990 s, which led to commercial products in the last five years. Although achieving a low specific ON-resistance in SiC power MOSFETs was essential at the inception of the technology, its penetration into power electronics applications is now driven by performance metrics for high-frequency circuits. Device structural enhancements to improve the high-frequency figures of merit are described that have led to major strides in performance. This includes the JBSFET concept where a JBS diode is integrated into the MOSFET structure to suppress current flow through the body diode; the split-gate (SG) and buffered-gate (BG) MOSFET structures that reduce the gate–drain charge; and the OCTFET structure where the gate–drain overlap area is reduced. Future developments in SiC power devices include increasing the blocking voltage rating to expand the applications spectrum. In addition, a SiC monolithic bidirectional switch has been demonstrated to allow implementation of matrix converters, and a SiC monolithic reverse blocking switch has been demonstrated to allow deployment of current source inverters (CSIs).