Radiation Effects in Commercial 1200 V 24 A Silicon Carbide Power MOSFETs

In 2011, after many years of research and development SiC power MOSFETs became available in the commercial marketplace. This paper presents the results of Co60 total ionizing dose (TID) effects for the new high power-high current 24 A SiC devices irradiated at room temperature and 125°C. These commercially available components remained operational after a radiation dose of more than 100 krad. However, gamma ray irradiation gave rise to changes in current-voltage and capacitance-voltage characteristics. Specifically, threshold voltage decreased, resulting in increased current drive. We also observed rises in interface state densities, as well as input, output and reverse transfer capacitances with increasing accumulated doses.