Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFETs can handle more current than their silicon IGBT counterparts and are therefore ideal for applications involving high switching frequencies. Furthermore, SiC MOSFETs offer improved temperature tolerance as well as faster recovery times which helps minimize system size and costs.
Intelligent power and sensing technology provider onsemi has introduced its latest-generation SiC MOSFET platform, the EliteSiC M3e, sampling in an industry-standard TO-247-4L package and with plans for release multiple generations through 2030. These devices will play a pivotal role in meeting global energy requirements as governments and industries shift toward electrification to meet climate goals while decreasing greenhouse emissions.
Low RDS(ON)
An important consideration in high-current applications, the on-state resistance (RDS(ON)) of MOSFETs is their on-state resistance (RDS(ON). A higher RDS(ON) causes more power loss and heat production while lower values reduce power use while improving efficiency, ultimately leading to improved system performance.
RDS(ON) of MOSFETs can vary significantly between devices due to factors like gate voltage and drain current; designers should become acquainted with all the variables influencing it in order to select suitable MOSFETs for power electronics designs.
To accurately measure the on-state resistance of a MOSFET, a fixed gate voltage must be applied and drain-to-source current measured. This method helps avoid self-heating and provide more precise results; pulsed measurement methods are also available to minimize measuring error and ensure accurate results.
Wide bandgap (WBG) SiC FETs boast lower RDS(ON) values than traditional silicon-based FETs, making them particularly suitable for electric vehicle (EV) traction inverters, DC/DC converters, UPS systems and energy storage systems. G4 cascoded devices from UnitedSiC (now Qorvo) are especially well suited to handling 800 V bus voltages while Onsemi’s NTBL045N065SC1 device features an RDS(ON) value of 33mO at hard switching frequencies up to 200kHz while also featuring very small gate charges that help lower total power loss while improving thermal performance.
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Power semiconductors used for industrial applications require high withstand voltages, large currents and fast switching speeds. Silicon (Si) semiconductors have reached their limit in this regard; wide band gap power semiconductors made from SiC are becoming an increasingly popular solution as wide band gap MOSFETs switch at much higher frequencies than traditional silicon counterparts and offer greater heat resistance.
Engineers using SiC MOSFETs benefit from lower conduction and switching losses that allow engineers to design systems with smaller footprints and reduced costs compared to conventional silicon designs, making significant cost-cutting effects on weight and power density of systems possible.
SiC MOSFETs can reduce the total conduction loss of drive motor systems as their body diodes don’t get as hot, thus minimizing temperature swings necessary for power cycling.
SiC MOSFETs require special consideration when it comes to standard mode transient immunity, so selecting the proper gate driver is crucial for their use. onsemi offers several gate drivers designed specifically for these devices – the NCP51705 and NCP51561 are two that meet these standards and make integration into existing systems easy by supporting various drive motor manufacturers’ standard circuits while offering signal conditioning support and providing greater design freedom.
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Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a semiconductor material with much higher power density compared to its peers. Additionally, SiC boasts superior robustness and switching frequencies than many competing technologies – qualities which make it perfect for demanding data center environments. SiC MOSFETs offer significant cost reductions and performance gains over silicon (Si) MOSFETs in terms of cost, EMI emission reductions, high temperature operation performance enhancement and switching frequency performance improvements versus their counterparts.
SiC MOSFETs’ key advantage lies in their internal gate resistances, enabling engineers to streamline design by eliminating external resistors from circuit designs and simplify them altogether. This results in smaller overall circuit sizes with increased efficiencies and lower switching losses; ultimately lowering overall system costs for an EV charging station.
Onsemi’s EliteSiC M3e MOSFETs are now sampling in an industry-standard TO-247-4L package and feature industry-low on resistance and short circuit withstand capacity – ideal for use in traction inverters.
These M3e MOSFETs are optimized to deliver higher energy loss figures of merit than their silicon (Si) counterparts in automotive AECQ101 and industrial applications, offering superior performance over their silicon counterparts. Their low Rdson helps minimize conduction losses while their short dead time reduces LLC circulating losses, and their transient output capacitance enables faster VDS transition from off-state to diode conduction – all making them ideal candidates for PFC and LLC stages of data center systems.
High efficiency
Silicon carbide’s physical properties make it an ideal material for power electronics applications. With high dielectric breakdown strength, low resistance and thermal conductivity properties that allow it to withstand higher voltages while running more efficiently than silicon devices – and less heat produced, requiring fewer cooling systems overall – silicon carbide provides power electronics manufacturers with an ideal material choice.
Onsemi’s EliteSiC family of silicon carbide (SiC) Schottky barrier diodes and MOSFETs offers superior performance across a broad array of applications. In comparison with silicon diodes, SiC diodes are more efficient and resistant to abrasions and contamination while boasting faster recovery times which makes them suitable for current transitioning between blocking to conducting stages quickly.
Onsemi’s EliteSiC devices also boast lower gate charges than their silicon counterparts, helping reduce energy waste and improve system efficiency while simultaneously increasing current per package thereby improving energy conversion efficiency and power density. This allows designers to achieve more current in smaller packages while improving conversion and power density.
Onsemi offers designers an extensive array of design support tools and methodologies to assist with the integration of SiC devices into their designs, such as physically-based SPICE models with scaleable device SPICE models and an Elite Power Simulator. Together these allow engineers to test and optimize their circuit designs for maximum performance quickly without incurring significant prototyping costs or effort – saving significant energy, cooling and replacement costs over the lifetime of power systems.
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