[BNC-all] Seminar featuring Dallas Morisette

[Anthrop, Heather L]

Making SiC MOSFETs Competitive in
Low to Medium Voltage Applications

Dallas Morisette
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Purdue University

                  July 8, 2014
                 BRK RM 1001
               10:30

Silicon carbide (SiC), with it’s wide bandgap, high critical field, and high thermal conductivity, is a promising alternative to silicon for power switching devices. Unipolar devices such as Schottky barrier diodes and MOSFETs are particularly interesting, as they exhibit very low switching losses compared with Si bipolar devices, such as PiN diodes and IGBTs. This enables higher frequency operation, reduces the size and cost of the required passive components, and improves overall system efficiency. This new class of devices is enabling the next generation of high-efficiency power electronics systems, and is impacting a diverse range of industries, including electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, power distribution in data centers, and solar inverters.
However, the performance of SiC MOSFETs has not yet reached theoretical limits. This is particularly true for devices targeted at low to medium voltage applications (200 V to 2 kV), a potentially high-volume market. This is due to low channel mobility, which is typically less than 5% of the bulk mobility, and has not improved significantly over the last decade. Alternative gate insulator fabrication methods and materials will be discussed, and a novel FinFET inspired device structure will be introduced. These concepts could help the SiC MOSFET compete successfully in this critical application space.

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