Title :
Thermal Stability of Silicon Carbide Power Diodes
Author :
Buttay, Cyril ; Raynaud, Christophe ; Morel, Hervé ; Civrac, Gabriel ; Locatelli, Marie-Laure ; Morel, Florent
Author_Institution :
Lab. Ampere, Inst. Nat. des Sci. Appl. de Lyon (INSA Lyon), Villeurbanne, France
fDate :
3/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Silicon carbide (SiC) power devices can operate at much higher junction temperature than those made of silicon. However, this does not mean that SiC devices can operate without a good cooling system. To demonstrate this, the model of a merged p-i-n Schottky (MPS) SiC diode is presented, and its parameters are identified with experimental measurements. This model is then used to study the ruggedness of the diode regarding the thermal runaway phenomenon. Finally, it is shown that, where a purely unipolar diode would be unstable, the MPS structure brings increased stability.
Keywords :
Schottky diodes; p-i-n diodes; power semiconductor diodes; semiconductor device measurement; semiconductor device models; silicon compounds; thermal stability; wide band gap semiconductors; MPS structure; SiC; cooling system; junction temperature; p-i-n Schottky-SiC diode; silicon carbide power diodes; thermal runaway phenomenon; thermal stability; Cooling; Junctions; P-i-n diodes; Schottky diodes; Silicon carbide; Temperature measurement; Thermal stability; High-temperature techniques; Schottky diodes; p-i-n diodes; power electronics; silicon carbide (SiC);
Journal_Title :
Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TED.2011.2181390
