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Wide-Band-Gap Devices Enabled High Efficiency and High Power-Density Motor-Drives
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Wide-Band-Gap Devices Enabled High Efficiency and High Power-Density Motor-Drives

A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Power Electronics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 May 2025 | Viewed by 6580

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Alberto Castellazzi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Solid-State Power Processing (SP2) Lab, Department of Mechanical and Electrical Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University of Advanced Science, Kyoto 615-8577, Japan
Interests: power electronics; power semiconductor devices; packaging; thermal management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Xibo Yuan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UB, UK
Interests: power electronics; electric machines and drives; application of wide-bandgap devices for ultra-efficient and high-density converters; sensorless control of induction motors and permanent magnet motors; wind power generation using doubly fed induction generators and direct-drive permanent magnet generators; high-power, medium-voltage multilevel converter topology and control; bi-directional battery charger and drive train design for electric vehicles; power management in microgrid; more electric aircraft technologies; emi and filter reduction for high power density power conversion systems with multilevel converters and soft-switching techniques

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Electric motor drives (EMDs) are a pivotal element of our society, comprising well over half of the total electrical energy usage worldwide in a range of domains (e.g., industry, transportation, renewable energy). They are rapidly gaining importance in numerous growing and upcoming industries and applications (e.g., aerospace, solid state transformers, medium-voltage applications).

Semiconductor power devices are key elements of motor-drive system design, determining the efficiency and volumetric/gravimetric density of the power converters and the machines. The evolutionary trends of EMDs are demanding higher motor voltages and higher fundamental electrical frequencies, pushing established silicon technology to its limits. In the semiconductor arena, disruptive progress was made with the introduction of wide-bandgap (WBG) devices, particularly silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs and gallium nitride (GaN) HEMTs. However, their deployment as a straightforward drop-in replacement of Si in established applications has hitherto only demonstrated incremental progress capability and has generated both enthusiasm for the benefits and concerns for the challenges of exploiting in practice their full theoretical potential.

Recently, new and revisited circuit topologies have been proposed, which utilize the high switching speed and frequency capability, high operational temperature and integration-level opportunities offered by WBG semiconductor technologies. This Special Issue aims to collect state-of-the-art R&D results relating to WBG-based motor-drive design, demonstrating significant progress in this area. The focus is not only on the power converters, but also on machine design. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

  • Multi-level inverters;
  • Y-Inverter;
  • Current-Source Inverters;
  • Integrated Motor Drives;
  • Innovative machine concepts;
  • High-frequency control solutions (software and hardware);
  • High-boost ratios DC-DC converters;
  • High-reliability applications;
  • Reliability challenges and solutions;
  • Long cable effects at high switching frequencies;
  • Winding insulation and bearing degradation;
  • Multi-domain physical design and design automation.

Prof. Dr. Alberto Castellazzi
Prof. Dr. Xibo Yuan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Electronics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • wide-band-gap semiconductors
  • motor drives
  • high power density
  • Y-Inverter
  • current–source inverter
  • multi-level inverters
  • DC-DC converters

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

35 pages, 6077 KiB  
Article
Design and Implementation of 3 kW All-SiC Current Source Inverter
by Benedikt Riegler and Michael Hartmann
Electronics 2025, 14(3), 522; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14030522 - 27 Jan 2025
Viewed by 909
Abstract
In this paper, the optimal design and implementation of a silicon-carbide (SiC) power semiconductor-based current source inverter (CSI) with a power rating of 3 kW focusing on high power density are discussed in detail. The proposed methodology integrates analytical and numerical techniques to [...] Read more.
In this paper, the optimal design and implementation of a silicon-carbide (SiC) power semiconductor-based current source inverter (CSI) with a power rating of 3 kW focusing on high power density are discussed in detail. The proposed methodology integrates analytical and numerical techniques to optimize the design of passive components, including filter capacitors and the DC-link inductor, and provides a comprehensive analysis of power semiconductor losses. The losses in the DC-link inductor as well as in the output capacitor are strongly dependent on the modulation strategy. Semi-analytical loss models are therefore derived for the most advanced modulation strategy, which are subsequently used to increase volumetric power density. The theoretical findings are experimentally validated using an ultra-compact, high-efficiency 3 kW three-phase CSI prototype operating at up to 100 kHz switching frequency. The experimental results confirm the efficiency of the proposed design and demonstrate its potential for high-power, compact drive applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wide-Band-Gap Devices Enabled High Efficiency and High Power-Density Motor-Drives)
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15 pages, 11613 KiB  
Article
Gate Oxide Reliability in Silicon Carbide Planar and Trench Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors Under Positive and Negative Electric Field Stress
by Limeng Shi, Jiashu Qian, Michael Jin, Monikuntala Bhattacharya, Shiva Houshmand, Hengyu Yu, Atsushi Shimbori, Marvin H. White and Anant K. Agarwal
Electronics 2024, 13(22), 4516; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13224516 - 18 Nov 2024
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2453
Abstract
This work investigates the gate oxide reliability of commercial 1.2 kV silicon carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) with planar and trench gate structures. The performance of threshold voltage (Vth) and gate leakage current [...] Read more.
This work investigates the gate oxide reliability of commercial 1.2 kV silicon carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) with planar and trench gate structures. The performance of threshold voltage (Vth) and gate leakage current (Igss) in SiC MOSFETs is evaluated under positive and negative gate voltage stress. The oxide lifetimes of SiC planar and trench MOSFETs at 150 °C are measured using constant voltage Time-Dependent Dielectric Breakdown (TDDB) testing. From the test results, it is found that electron trapping and hole trapping in SiO2 caused by oxide electric field (Eox) stress affect the Vth of SiC MOSFETs. The saturation and turnaround behavior of the Vth shift during positive and negative gate voltage stresses indicates that the influence of charge trapping in the gate oxide varies with stress time. The Igss under positive and negative gate voltages depends on the tunneling barrier height for electrons and holes, respectively, which can be calculated using the Fowler–Nordheim (FN) tunneling mechanism. Moreover, the presence of near-interface traps (NITs) affects the barrier height for holes under negative gate voltages. The behavior of Vth shift and Igss under high-temperature gate bias reflects the charge trapping occurring in different regions of the gate oxide. In addition, compared to SiC planar MOSFETs, SiC trench MOSFETs with thicker gate oxide tend to exhibit higher lifetimes in TDDB tests. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wide-Band-Gap Devices Enabled High Efficiency and High Power-Density Motor-Drives)
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22 pages, 12670 KiB  
Article
Considerations on the Development of High-Power Density Inverters for Highly Integrated Motor Drives
by Yury Mikhaylov, Ahmed Aboelhassan, Giampaolo Buticchi and Michael Galea
Electronics 2024, 13(2), 355; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13020355 - 14 Jan 2024
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2291
Abstract
In transportation electrification, power modules are considered the best choice for power switches to build a high-power inverter. Recently, several studies have presented prototypes that use parallel discrete MOSFETs and show similar overall output capabilities. This paper aims to compare the maximum output [...] Read more.
In transportation electrification, power modules are considered the best choice for power switches to build a high-power inverter. Recently, several studies have presented prototypes that use parallel discrete MOSFETs and show similar overall output capabilities. This paper aims to compare the maximum output power and losses of inverters with different types (surface-mounted, through-hole-mounted and power modules) of commercially available switching devices, and, therefore, discuss the theoretical boundaries of each technology. The numerical analysis relies on detailed power loss and thermal models, with adjustments made for gate current and realistic parameters of the cooling system. The analysis includes two case studies with different targets, including minimum dimensional characteristics and maximum output power. The results demonstrate that discrete MOSFETs can provide improved capabilities in contrast to power modules under certain conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wide-Band-Gap Devices Enabled High Efficiency and High Power-Density Motor-Drives)
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