Silicon carbide GTOs: static and dynamic characterization

With the continuing improvement in silicon carbide (SiC) materials and processes, power devices such as GTOs and diodes are increasingly being fabricated. Albeit these devices are still in their infancy due to the size of SiC dies, their potential for use in power electronics is tremendous. SiC GTOs can operate at high switching frequencies, high voltages and high junction temperatures. These properties are desirable for a number of applications such as motor drives, high voltage power supplies and high temperature electronics. This paper presents experimental results for 4H-SiC GTOs. Both packaged and unpackaged devices are tested. The GTOs are designed for 1 kV and 3 kV blocking voltage and are capable of handling 5A continuous current. The die size is 1 mm /spl times/1 mm and both involute and concentric designs are explored. Static and dynamic characteristics are presented. A simple boost converter is used to test the GTOs dynamically. A Schottky SiC diode is used as a freewheeling diode. Special attention is given to the behavior of the GTOs both at turn-on and turn-off. Potential applications for these SiC GTOs are also discussed and specific target applications are discussed. In particular, these devices are slated to be used in an all SiC inverters to demonstrate the high voltage, high frequency and high temperature operation of SiC.