Silicon Carbide (SiC) devices have become an indispensable component in EV powertrain designs. Here’s how to select an appropriate SiC supplier for your design project.
International manufacturers enjoy first-mover advantage in this field and are hastening their transition to 8-inch wafers. Chinese SiC manufacturers are beginning to catch up, particularly in terms of substrate material and epiwafer production.
Power Modules
Power modules are essential components in modern electronics such as mobile phones, laptops and televisions, as they enable their reliable operation. By controlling battery charging/discharging cycles and providing enough energy for optimal performance. Their designs vary according to each device’s specific power needs and operating conditions.
Silicon Carbide (SiC) power modules are intended as building blocks of reliable power-supply systems, featuring low power losses and switching temperatures compared to traditional silicon devices. Furthermore, multiple modules can be combined together either parallel or series/parallel to increase system capacity.
An ideal power module design strikes a balance between performance and manufacturability, prioritizing reliability, efficiency, and safety. Furthermore, digital communication should allow it to be monitored and controlled as part of larger systems; this feature is especially valuable when designing mission-critical equipment such as base stations or routers.
To ensure safe operation of power modules, they are constructed of plastic with a metal base plate to dissipate heat. Furthermore, their screw contacts or pins allow high current/high voltage use without soldering; making installation and removal or securement easy post sales. In addition to power connections, most have communication links that enable communication among modules themselves and between power modules and system components such as SOI controllers.
Power MOSFETs
SiC’s lower on-resistance is what allows power MOSFETs to switch more current with less wasted energy, leading to higher power density as well as smaller, lighter devices that save space and cost.
Wide-bandgap SiC’s wide bandgap and increased temperature tolerance enable it to substantially cut power losses for more efficient, longer-lasting power supplies, making them particularly ideal for data centers and industrial applications that use large amounts of electricity such as automated equipment or data collection systems.
SiC’s thin material reduces switching losses, enabling faster switching speeds to enhance efficiency while minimizing heat production for reduced overall system performance. This results in smaller power supplies with lower energy requirements consuming less power consumption for greater overall system effectiveness.
SiC’s unique ability to withstand high temperatures paves the way for its use in motor drives, UPS systems, solar string inverters and electric vehicle charging stations. SiC’s low junction-to-ambient thermal impedance decreases power requirements to cool devices in such demanding environments while contributing to greater power density.
SiC power MOSFETs feature rapid reverse recovery times compared to silicon-based P-N junction diodes, eliminating the need for additional anti-parallel diodes in many applications and helping to simplify circuit designs, increase reliability and decrease bill of materials costs.
Evaluation Kits & Boards
Evaluation kits (also referred to as “EV kits or boards”) allow designers to experiment with novel semiconductor products without the hassle of designing a custom PCB. These specialized boards feature pre-assembled and tested components with several plated-through holes for wire connections; many even come equipped with their own dedicated header to facilitate experimentation with novel products.
Broadcom’s EV kit EB1200-3161 is intended to assist engineers in making the switch to 1200V SiC MOSFETs, offering high-speed power circuits and an isolated gate driver for their ACFL-3161, used to drive discrete 1200 V SiC MOSFETs. Additionally, its optimized layout reduces commutation loop inductance while offering widebandwidth current switch current measurement capabilities.
Samtec’s RF Evaluation Kits and Cable Assembly SI Evaluation Kits provide interactive reference designs that make testing new interconnect technologies simpler for hobbyists, tinkerers, and professional engineers. These platforms enable them to evaluate and verify many of Samtec’s popular board-to-board and wire-to-board interconnect products quickly, helping reduce time to market for new systems.
Supply Chain Intelligence
Supply chain intelligence leverages data analytics to increase operational efficiencies, responsiveness and resilience of operations. It turns data into actionable insights that empower teams to make smarter decisions and reduce waste. By streamlining processes, optimizing routes and cutting logistics costs intelligent supply chains enable organizations to save money while improving performance.
Reliable supply chains are essential to upholding product integrity, mitigating risks and maintaining business continuity. Advanced supply chain tools can identify and respond to security threats that could compromise product integrity – be they cyber vulnerabilities or physical disruptions – in a proactive fashion promoting customer trust and increasing customer satisfaction.
Many businesses utilize supply chain intelligence to automate workflows and reduce manual intervention. Robotic Process Automation (RPA), automated guided vehicles, data analytics and predictive modeling all aid warehouse operations while also helping reduce errors, increase efficiency and decrease inventory management costs.
Intelligent supply chains also prioritize sustainability and ethical practices, from carbon emissions reductions to fair labor practices and promoting an eco-friendly business model. Adopting these measures allows companies to improve their reputation among existing customers while simultaneously increasing overall efficiency.
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