The Impact of the Dead-Time on the Reverse Recovery Behavior of SiC-MOSFET Body Diodes

Abstract

The impact of the dead-time on the body diode reverse recovery behavior for 1.2 kV silicon carbide MOSFETs has been studied in this paper. The plasma formation behavior of the body diode at different temperatures and load currents is investigated firstly. The time for the plasma stabilization can be estimated. Afterwards, the influence of the load current amplitude, the operating temperature, and the switching speed have been investigated with standard double-pulse tests. Different MOSFET cell designs of various manufacturers were compared. It has been found that selecting a suitable dead-time and switching speed is essential for the optimization of the overall losses, especially at higher operation temperatures.