Physics-based numerical simulation for design of high-voltage, extremely-high current density SiC power devices

Author

Hillkirk, Leonardo M. ; Hefner, Allen R. ; Dutton, Robert W.

Author_Institution

Nat. Inst. of Stand. & Technol., Gaithersburg

fYear

2007

fDate

12-14 Dec. 2007

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

2

Abstract

This paper presents a selection of results from numerical studies addressing various problems highly relevant to the operation of SiC power devices in power systems such as the speed optimization of high-voltage SiC PiN diodes and the operation of SiC thyristors under extremely- high-current pulse-power conditions. Various methods used to optimize the reverse-recovery performance of 4H-SiC PiN power diodes are studied, including base life time control, emitter efficiency reduction, and regional lifetime control. Pulse-power thyristors are also simulated to determine the limits of reliable performance due to self-heating-induced failure.

Keywords

current density; numerical analysis; p-i-n diodes; pulsed power supplies; silicon compounds; thyristors; wide band gap semiconductors; PiN diodes; SiC; emitter efficiency reduction; extremely-high current density power devices; high-current pulse-power conditions; physics-based numerical simulation; power systems; pulse-power thyristors; self-heating-induced failure; Convergence of numerical methods; Current density; Diodes; Numerical simulation; Power system reliability; Pulse power systems; Semiconductor process modeling; Silicon carbide; Thyristors; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Semiconductor Device Research Symposium, 2007 International

Conference_Location

College Park, MD

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-1892-3

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-1892-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ISDRS.2007.4422305

Filename

4422305