Is SiC a Predominant Technology for Future High Power Electronics?: A Critical Review

Abstract

: Due to the magnificent properties of Silicon Carbide (SiC), such as high saturation drift velocity, large operating temperature, higher cut-off and maximum frequency (fT and fmax), high thermal conductivity and large breakdown voltages (BV), it is desirable for high power electronics. With the latest advancements in semiconductor materials and processing technologies, diverse high-power applications such as inverters, power supplies, power converters and smart electric vehicles are implemented using SiC-based power devices. Especially, SiC MOSFETs are mostly used in high-power applications due totheir capability to achieve lower switching loss, higher switching speed and lower ON resistance than the Si-based (Insulated gate bipolar transistor) IGBTs. In this paper, a critical study of SiC MOSFET architectures, emerging dielectric techniques, mobility enhancement methods and irradiation effects are discussed. Moreover, the roadmap of Silicon Carbide power devices is also briefly summarized.