Silicon carbide (SiC) power devices have been investigated extensively in the past two decades, and there are many devices commercially available now. Owing to the intrinsic material advantages of SiC over silicon (Si), SiC power devices can operate at higher voltage, higher switching frequency, and higher temperature. This paper reviews the technology progress of SiC power devices and their emerging applications. The design challenges and future trends are summarized at the end of the paper.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/ielaam/41/8031005/7815312-aam.pdf

Review of Silicon Carbide Power Devices and Their Applications

In this paper, power electronic transformer (PET)-based railway traction systems are comprehensively reviewed according to the unique application features and requirements. By comparing PET and conventional line frequency transformer (LFT)-based systems, their pros and cons are summarized. By further reviewing all kinds of PET-based designs from the early concepts to the latest ones in the order of their publication dates, the developing trends are highlighted. By synthetically considering the requirements and the state of the art, the key challenges and opportunities are identified and discussed. It shows that although PET-based systems are still developing and far from mature, they are already superior to LFT-based systems in terms of system weight, efficiency, and functionalities especially for 15-kV/16.7-Hz applications. With the advancements on wide bandgap power devices, medium frequency transformers, and converters, PET systems will be even more promising and available for all types of railway tractions in the near future.

Power Electronic Transformer-Based Railway Traction Systems: Challenges and Opportunities

This report summarizes the Truss Braced Wing (TBW) work accomplished by the Boeing Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) team, consisting of Boeing Research and Technology, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, General Electric, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, NextGen Aeronautics, and Microcraft. A multi-disciplinary optimization (MDO) environment defined the geometry that was further refined for the updated SUGAR High TBW configuration. Airfoil shapes were tested in the NASA TCT facility, and an aeroelastic model was tested in the NASA TDT facility. Flutter suppression was successfully demonstrated using control laws derived from test system ID data and analysis models. Aeroelastic impacts for the TBW design are manageable and smaller than assumed in Phase I. Flutter analysis of TBW designs need to include pre-load and large displacement non-linear effects to obtain a reasonable match to test data. With the updated performance and sizing, fuel burn and energy use is reduced by 54% compared to the SUGAR Free current technology Baseline (Goal 60%). Use of the unducted fan version of the engine reduces fuel burn and energy by 56% compared to the Baseline. Technology development roadmaps were updated, and an airport compatibility analysis established feasibility of a folding wing aircraft at existing airports.

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20110011321/downloads/20110011321.pdf

Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research

Silicon carbide (SiC) p-i-n diodes having five different n−-layer ( $i$ -layer) thicknesses from 48 to $268~\mu $ m are fabricated. The forward characteristics of SiC p-i-n diodes are significantly improved by carrier-lifetime enhancement. After this improvement, the differential on-resistance is inversely proportional to the square root of current density for all the diodes with different thicknesses of n−-layer. As a result, the forward current density–voltage characteristics can be approximately expressed by a parabolic function, as in the case of Si p-i-n diodes. Using a 268- $\mu $ m-thick n−-layer, the lifetime enhancement, and an improved space-modulated junction termination extension structure, a very high blocking voltage over 26.9 kV and low differential on-resistance of 9.7 m $\Omega \cdot $ cm $^{2}$ are achieved.

Ultrahigh-Voltage SiC p-i-n Diodes With Improved Forward Characteristics

Ultrahigh-voltage silicon carbide (SiC) devices [p-i-n diodes and insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs)] and switching test have been investigated. As a result, we have succeeded in developing a 13-kV p-i-n diode, 15-kV p-channel IGBT, and 16-kV flip-type n-channel implantation and epitaxial IGBT with a low differential specific on-resistance ( R $_{\rm diff,on}$ ). It was revealed that a power module fabricated using a nanotech resin, Si3N4 ceramic substrate, and W base plate was suitable for ultrahigh voltage and high temperature. A switching test was carried out using a clamped inductive load circuit, which indicated that the energy loss of a circuit with ultrahigh-voltage SiC devices is lower than that of Si devices.

Development of Ultrahigh-Voltage SiC Devices

Sharp avalanche breakdown voltages of 12.9 kV are measured on PiN rectifiers fabricated on 100 µm thick, 3 x 1014 cm-3 doped n- epilayers grown on n+ 4H-SiC substrates. This equates to a record high 129 V/µm for a > 10 kV device. Optimized epilayer, device design and processing of the SiC PiN rectifiers result in a > 60% blocking yield at 10 kV, ultra-low on-state voltage drop and differential on-resistance of 3.75 V and 3.3 mΩ-cm2 at 100 A/cm2 respectively. Open circuit voltage decay (OCVD) measured carrier lifetimes in the range of 2-4 µs are obtained at room temperature, which increase to a record high 14 µs at 225 °C. Excellent stability of the forward bias characteristics within 10 mV is observed for a long-term forward biasing of the PiN rectifiers at 100 A/cm2. A PiN rectifier module consisting of five parallel large area 6.4 mm x 6.4 mm 10 kV PiN rectifiers is connected as a free-wheeling diode with a Si IGBT and 1100 V/100 A switching transients are recorded. Data on the current sharing capability of the PiN rectifiers is also presented.

12.9 kV SiC PiN Diodes with Low On-State Drops and High Carrier Lifetimes

This paper reports on ultra-high voltage, >15 kV SiC PiN rectifiers exhibiting >95% of the avalanche rating and 115 V/μm. This is one of a few reports on > 15 kV blocking voltages measured on any single semiconductor device, and the highest percentage of the avalanche limit ever reported on devices fabricated on > 100 μm thick SiC epilayers. Excellent stability of on-state voltage drop (VF) is displayed by 5.76 mm2 and large-area, 41 mm2 PiN rectifiers, when continually biased at high current densities for several days. The impact of carrier lifetime on the device performance for SiC bipolar devices with ultra-thick (≥100 μm) base layers is investigated by comparing I-V-T characteristics of SiC PiN rectifiers fabricated on 100 μm and 130 μm thick epilayers.

15 kV SiC PiN diodes achieve 95% of avalanche limit and stable long-term operation

Novel device design and process innovations made at GeneSiC on SiC JBS rectifiers result in a significant increase in surge current capability with a 33% decrease in power dissipation at 10x rated current. On the 1200 V-class rectifiers, a clear signature of avalanche-limited breakdown with ultra-low leakage currents is observed at temperatures as high as 240 °C. Almost temperature independent Schottky barrier heights of 1.2 eV and ideality factors 2K2 (for 4H-SiC) is directly extracted from the forward I-V characteristics. When compared with an off-the-shelf all-Si IGBT power co-pack, GeneSiC’s GA100XCP12-227 co-pack offers 88% and 47% reduction at 125 °C in the IGBT and free-wheeling diode switching energy losses, respectively. This results in an overall switching loss reduction of about 28% as compared to its silicon counterpart.

Madhuri Marripelly

Papers

12.9 kV SiC PiN Diodes with Low On-State Drops and High Carrier Lifetimes

15 kV SiC PiN diodes achieve 95% of avalanche limit and stable long-term operation

Hybrid Si-IGBT/SiC Rectifier Co-Packs and SiC JBS Rectifiers Offering Superior Surge Current Capability and Reduced Power Losses