Comparison of Thermal Stress During Short-Circuit in Different Types of 1.2-kV SiC Transistors Based on Experiments and Simulations

Abstract

The temperature evolution during a short-circuit (SC) fault in the dies of three different silicon carbide (SiC) 1200-V power devices is presented in this article. Transient electrothermal simulations are performed based on the reconstructed structure of commercially available devices. The simulations reveal the location of the hottest point in each device. The nonisothermal electrical analysis supports the necessity to turn-off SC events rapidly to protect the immunity of the device after a fault. The analysis also reveal differences in delay required to turn-off devices depending on their type. A thorough analysis of the temperature rise in the die of the SiC metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET) device is also presented, where the maximum temperature with regards to different fault cases and circuit characteristics is presented. The impact of the gate resistance, circuit inductance, detection time, drain-source voltage, and gate-source voltage are considered.