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Analysis of SiC MOSFETs for Advanced Energy-Conversion Systems

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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "F: Electrical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 November 2022) | Viewed by 7782

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Sima Dimitrijev

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Guest Editor

Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre and School of Engineering and Built Environment, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
Interests: semiconductor devices; SiC Schottky diodes; SiC MOSFETs; wide energy gap materials; power electronics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Better energy-conversion systems exhibit not only increased conversion efficiency but also reduced size, which is essential for applications such as battery-operated vehicles. This demand has motivated the transition from Si to SiC diodes and controlled switches, including metal‒oxide‒semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). After many years of research and development, SiC power MOSFETs were commercialized about a decade ago, and today many companies offer SiC MOSFETs with record high blocking voltages and low on resistances. This motivates continued research and development aimed at utilizing these devices for a variety of systems, including high-frequency power converters, industrial motor drives, switch-mode power supplies, electric vehicles and battery chargers, and solar inverters. On the other hand, research and development continues toward improvements in the performance and reliability of these devices. Significant improvements in performance and reliability can be achieved because the existing commercial SiC MOSFETs do not fully utilize the material properties of SiC due to defects at and near the interface between SiC and the gate oxide.

This Special Issue is aimed at bringing the latest insights and research in related areas, ranging from device design, fabrication, and characterization to analysis of the potential that SiC MOSFETs offer for improved energy-conversion systems.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to:

Device design;
Fabrication steps and process;
Electrical characterization;
Analysis of performance and reliability issues;
Comparative analysis with Si- and GaN-based switches;
Analysis of power-conversion efficiencies.

Prof. Dr. Sima Dimitrijev
Guest Editor

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. Energies 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 2600 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

SiC MOSFETs
near-interface traps
threshold-voltage drift
channel-carrier mobility
on resistance
blocking voltage
breakdown voltage
parasitic capacitances
power dissipation

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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27 pages, 12467 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Integration of SiC Devices and High-Frequency Transformer for High-Power Renewable Energy Applications

by Weichong Yao, Junwei Lu, Foad Taghizadeh, Feifei Bai and Andrew Seagar

Energies 2023, 16(3), 1538; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16031538 - 3 Feb 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2057

Abstract

This paper presents a novel structure of Integrated SiC MOSFETs with a high-frequency transformer (I-SiC-HFT) for various high-power isolated DC–DC converters. Several resonant converters are considered for integration in this paper, including the phase-shift full-bridge (PSFB) converter, inductor–inductor–capacitor (LLC) resonant converter, bidirectional PSFB converter, and capacitor–inductor–inductor–capacitor (CLLC) resonant converter. The applications of I-SiC-HFT are focused on V2G EV battery charging systems, energy storage in DC and AC microgrids, and renewable energy systems. SiC devices, including MOSFETs, Schottky diodes, and MOSFET modules, are used in this novel structure of I-SiC-HFT. The high-frequency magnetic structure uses distributed ferrite cores to form a large central space to accommodate SiC devices. The optimized architecture of I-SiC-HFT and heatsink structure is proposed for thermal management of SiC devices. To prove the concept, a small-scale 1.5 kW prototype I-SiC-HFT is used to demonstrate the basic structure and various performance indicators through the FEM based electromagnetic simulation and DC–DC converter experiments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis of SiC MOSFETs for Advanced Energy-Conversion Systems)

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13 pages, 5654 KiB

Open AccessArticle

High Performance 3.3 kV SiC MOSFET Structure with Built-In MOS-Channel Diode

by Jaeyeop Na, Minju Kim and Kwangsoo Kim

Energies 2022, 15(19), 6960; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15196960 - 22 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2277

Abstract

Built-in freewheeling diode metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) that ensure high performance and reliability at high voltages are crucial for chip integration. In this study, a 4H–SiC built-in MOS-channel diode MOSFET with a center P+ implanted structure (CIMCD–MOSFET) is proposed and simulated via technology computer-aided design (TCAD). The CIMCD–MOSFET contains a P+ center implant region, which protects the gate oxide edge from high electric field crowding. Moreover, the region also makes it possible to increase the junction FET (JFET) and N-drift doping concentration of the device by dispersing the high electric field. Consequently, the CIMCD–MOSFET is stable even at a high voltage of 3.3 kV without static degradation and gate oxide reliability issues. The CIMCD–MOSFET also has higher short-circuit withstanding capability owing to the low saturation current and improved switching characteristics due to the low gate-drain capacitance, compared to the conventional MOSFET (C–DMOSFET) and the built-in Schottky barrier diode MOSFET (SBD–MOSFET). The total switching time of a CIMCD–MOSFET is reduced by 52.2% and 42.2%, and the total switching loss is reduced by 67.8% and 41.8%, respectively, compared to the C–DMOSFET and SBD–MOSFET. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis of SiC MOSFETs for Advanced Energy-Conversion Systems)

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Review

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16 pages, 14804 KiB

Open AccessReview

Electrically Active Defects in SiC Power MOSFETs

by Mayank Chaturvedi, Daniel Haasmann, Hamid Amini Moghadam and Sima Dimitrijev

Energies 2023, 16(4), 1771; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16041771 - 10 Feb 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2729

Abstract

The performance and reliability of the state-of-the-art power 4H-SiC metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) are affected by electrically active defects at and near the interface between SiC and the gate dielectric. Specifically, these defects impact the channel-carrier mobility and threshold voltage of SiC MOSFETs, depending on their physical location and energy levels. To characterize these defects, techniques have evolved from those used for Si devices to techniques exclusively designed for the SiC MOS structure and SiC MOSFETs. This paper reviews the electrically active defects at and near the interface between SiC and the gate dielectric in SiC power MOSFETs and MOS capacitors. First, the defects are classified according to their physical locations and energy positions into (1) interface traps, (2) near interface traps with energy levels aligned to the energy gap, and (3) near-interface traps with energy levels aligned to the conduction band of SiC. Then, representative published results are shown and discussed for each class of defect. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis of SiC MOSFETs for Advanced Energy-Conversion Systems)

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