Evaluation of SiC power devices for a high power density matrix converter

With the commercial availability of SiC JFET and MOSFET, their acceptance are expected grows in consideration to the excellent low switching loss, high temperature operation and high voltage rating capabilities of these devices. This paper presents the possibility of building a matrix converter using Normally-off SiC JFET and SiC MOSFET. Firstly, the paper demonstrates a gate drive circuit for Normally-off SiC JFET and SiC MOSFET taking into account the special demands for these devices. Furthermore, a theoretical investigation of the power losses of a matrix converter with Normally-off SiC JFET, SiC MOSFET and Si IGBT is described. The losses estimation indicates that a 7 KW matrix converter would potentially have an efficiency of approximately 96% if equipped with SiC device.