Development of Advanced All-SiC Power Modules

A thermally integrated packaging structure for an all silicon carbide (SiC) power module was used to realize highly efficient cooling of power semiconductor devices through direct bonding of the power stage and a cold baseplate. The prototype power modules composed of SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors and Schottky barrier diodes demonstrate significant improvements such as low-power losses and low-thermal resistance. Direct comparisons to their silicon counterparts, which are composed of insulated gate bipolar transistors and PiN diodes, as well as conventional thermal packaging, were experimentally performed. The advantages of this SiC module in efficiency and power density for power electronics systems have also been identified, with clarification of the SiC attributes and packaging advancements.