Title :
A 4H Silicon Carbide Gate Buffer for Integrated Power Systems
Author :
Ericson, Nance ; Frank, Shane ; Britton, Chuck ; Marlino, Laura ; Sei-Hyung Ryu ; Grider, David ; Mantooth, Alan ; Francis, Matt ; Lamichhane, Ranjan ; Mudholkar, Mihir ; Shepherd, Peter ; Glover, Michael ; Valle-Mayorga, Javier ; McNutt, Ty ; Barkley, Ad
Author_Institution :
Oak Ridge Nat. Lab., Oak Ridge, TN, USA
Abstract :
A gate buffer fabricated in a 2-μm 4H silicon carbide (SiC) process is presented. The circuit is composed of an input buffer stage with a push-pull output stage, and is fabricated using enhancement mode N-channel FETs in a process optimized for SiC power switching devices. Simulation and measurement results of the fabricated gate buffer are presented and compared for operation at various voltage supply levels, with a capacitive load of 2 nF. Details of the design including layout specifics, simulation results, and directions for future improvement of this buffer are presented. In addition, plans for its incorporation into an isolated high-side/low-side gate-driver architecture, fully integrated with power switching devices in a SiC process, are briefly discussed. This letter represents the first reported MOSFET-based gate buffer fabricated in 4H SiC.
Keywords :
MOSFET; buffer circuits; hydrogen; power semiconductor switches; silicon compounds; H-SiC; MOSFET-based gate buffer; capacitance 2 nF; capacitive load; enhancement mode N-channel FET; high-side-low-side gate-driver architecture; input buffer stage; integrated power system; power switching devices; push-pull output stage; silicon carbide gate buffer; size 2 mum; voltage supply level; Delays; Inverters; Logic gates; MOS devices; Performance evaluation; Silicon carbide; Topology; 4H-SiC; Gate buffer; gate driver; high-temperature electronics; silicon carbide (SiC);
Journal_Title :
Power Electronics, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2271906
