Characterization and scalable modeling of power semiconductors for optimzied design of traction inverters with Si- and SiC-devices

Silicon Carbide (SiC) based Power Semiconductors are expected to contribute to an increase in inverter efficiency, switching frequencies, maximum permissible junction temperature and system power density. This paper presents a comparison of Silicon (Si) and SiC device technologies for the use in hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) traction inverters. SiC-JFETs and SiC-MOSFETs are characterized and a scalable loss and scalable thermal modelling approach is used to find the optimum chip area for each Si or SiC traction inverter. This procedure also provides a proper technical comparison of the semiconductor technologies. The progressed simulations using standardized drive cycles and thermal-electrical coupled semiconductor models permit an inverter performance evaluation close to real load situtations, leading to an improved estimation of the benefit which can be expected from Systems utilizing SiC technology.