A SiC NMOS Linear Voltage Regulator for High-Temperature Applications

The first SiC integrated circuit linear voltage regulator is reported. The voltage regulator uses a 20-V supply and generates an output of 15 V, adjustable down to 10 V. It was designed for loads of up to 2 A over a temperature range of 25-225 °C. It was, however, successfully tested up to 300 °C. The voltage regulator demonstrated load regulations of 1.49% and 9% for a 2-A load at temperatures of 25 and 300 °C, respectively. However, the load regulation is less than 2% up to 300 °C for a 1-A load. The line regulation with a 2-A load at 25 and 300 °C was 17 and 296 mV/V, respectively. The regulator was fabricated in a Cree 4H-SiC 2-μm experimental process and consists of 1000, 32/2-μm NMOS depletion MOSFETs as the pass device, an integrated error amplifier with enhancement MOSFETs, and resistor loads, and uses external feedback and compensation networks to ensure operational integrity. It was designed to be integrated with high-voltage vertical power MOSFETs on the same SiC substrate. It also serves as a guide to future attempts for voltage regulation in any type of integrated SiC circuitry.