Silicon carbide high-power devices

TLDR

Silicon carbide is gaining attention for high‑power devices because its high breakdown field, high electron drift velocity, and excellent thermal conductivity enable superior performance. Demonstrated 4H‑SiC devices achieve 1400 V Schottky diodes with >700 A/cm² at 2 V, 57 W output at 500 MHz from packaged SITs, 15× higher current density than Si IGBTs for 1200 V UMOSFETs, and sub‑micron MESFETs reaching 32 GHz fmax, 14 GHz fT, and 2.8 W/mm power density, outperforming comparable Si and GaAs devices and matching theoretical predictions.

Abstract

In recent years, silicon carbide has received increased attention because of its potential for high-power devices. The unique material properties of SiC, high electric breakdown field, high saturated electron drift velocity, and high thermal conductivity are what give this material its tremendous potential in the power device arena. 4H-SiC Schottky barrier diodes (1400 V) with forward current densities over 700 A/cm/sup 2/ at 2 V have been demonstrated. Packaged SITs have produced 57 W of output power at 500 MHz, SiC UMOSFETs (1200 V) are projected to have 15 times the current density of Si IGBTs (1200 V). Submicron gate length 4H-SiC MESFETs have achieved f/sub max/=32 GHz, f/sub T/=14.0 GHz, and power density=2.8 W/mm @ 1.8 GHz. The performances of a wide variety of SiC devices are compared to that of similar Si and GaAs devices and to theoretically expected results.