Reverse conduction of a 100 A SiC DMOSFET module in high-power applications

Numerous research efforts over the past few years have documented the enhanced capabilities that Silicon Carbide (SiC) offers over Silicon based power electronic devices. Additional research work has led to vast improvements in the manufacturing of SiC based components. As a result, SiC power electronic components, primarily diodes, are now readily available and this technology promises to have widespread market impact as more complex device structures are commercially realized. Recently, the development of a 1200 V 50 A SiC DMOSFET device and its use in a 100 A power module has been documented. This paper extends that research work to report on the reverse conduction characteristics of the SiC DMOSFET and the system-level benefits for high-power applications that can be achieved by operating these devices in this manner. Experimental data is presented on the 100 A module consisting of two, 50 A SiC DMOSFETs and two, 50 A SiC JBS anti-parallel free-wheeling diodes used in a high-power bi-directional DC-DC converter during buck mode operation.