Influence of Si/SiC device selection on losses and magnetics design in an isolated DC-DC converter

Recently introduced Si/SiC devices allow switching frequencies of several MHz with switching losses comparable to those in slower Si IGBTs. The losses of different Si/SiC devices working in a full-bridge active-clamped isolated dc-dc converter with different switching frequencies are calculated and compared in order to explore the improvements in losses. Furthermore, various transformers are designed for the converter with different switching frequencies while limiting the temperature rise. The benefits of high-frequency devices can be readily illustrated by comparing the total transistor power losses and transformer sizes of the Si/SiC-based converters.