Title :
Performance of a 1-kV, Silicon Carbide Avalanche Breakdown Diode
Author :
Urciuoli, D. ; Ryu, S. ; Capell, D.C. ; Ibitayo, D. ; Koebke, G. ; Tipton, C.W.
Author_Institution :
U.S. Army Res. Lab., Adelphi, MD, USA
Abstract :
A SiC avalanche breakdown diode (ABD) having a nominal 1-kV breakdown voltage was fabricated to provide improved suppression of voltage transients induced during hard-switched turn-off of solid-state devices. Three SiC ABDs were pulsed 1000 times in an inductive load circuit at peak currents of over 100 A. Superior performance in peak pulse current, clamping voltage, and peak pulse power was seen, compared to the results of two series-connected commercial TVS devices, collectively having a comparable breakdown voltage. The transient thermal response of the SiC ABDs was calculated using a model for energy dissipation in short pulses. SiC ABD design parameters and test data were used to show that the reported performance of these devices was not related to package thermal impedance.
Keywords :
avalanche breakdown; avalanche diodes; interference suppression; power semiconductor switches; silicon compounds; transients; wide band gap semiconductors; ABD design parameter; SiC; TVS device; avalanche breakdown diode; clamping voltage; current 100 A; energy dissipation; inductive load circuit; peak pulse current; peak pulse power; solid-state device; transient thermal response; transient voltage suppression; voltage 1 kV; Avalanche breakdown; Breakdown voltage; Clamps; Electronic packaging thermal management; Performance evaluation; Silicon carbide; Transient analysis; Avalanche breakdown diode (ABD); metal oxide varistor (MOV); silicon carbide (SiC); snubber; solid state circuit breaker (SSCB); solid state power controller (SSPC); transient voltage suppression (TVS);
Journal_Title :
Power Electronics, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TPEL.2015.2403199
