Abstract
This paper presents the design, fabrication and characterization results obtained on the last generation (third run) of SiC 10 kV PiN diodes from SuperGrid Institute. In forward bias, the 59 mm2 diodes were tested up to 100 A. These devices withstand voltages up to 12 kV on wafer (before dicing, packaging) and show a low forward voltage drop at 80 A. The influence of the temperature from 25 °C to 125 °C has been assessed and shows that resistivity modulation occurs in the whole temperature range. Leakage current at 3 kV increases with temperature, while being three orders of magnitude lower than those of equivalent Si diodes. Double-pulse switching tests reveal the 10 kV SiC PiN diode’s outstanding performance. Turn-on dV/dt and di/dt are −32 V/ns and 311 A/µs, respectively, whereas turn-off dV/dt and di/dt are 474 V/ns and −4.2 A/ns.
Highlights
Marketing of SiC devices has expanded during the past decade; transistors and diodes are available at lower cost
For medium-voltage direct current (MVDC) and high-voltage direct current (HVDC) grid applications, it is interesting to work with bipolar devices [9]
Plus, when operating at high temperature, the charge carrier mobility is reduced, which is even more detrimental to the on-state resistance of unipolar devices that make use of the field-effect conduction. For bipolar devices this effect is of lesser importance as they can benefit from resistivity modulation due to the possible high-level injection of carriers [11]
Summary
Marketing of SiC devices has expanded during the past decade; transistors and diodes are available at lower cost. Plus, when operating at high temperature, the charge carrier mobility is reduced, which is even more detrimental to the on-state resistance of unipolar devices that make use of the field-effect conduction. The field-assisted current conduction mechanism is reinforced by the diffusion mechanism, which is less sensitive to temperature and produces a lower increase of the on-state resistance with temperature in bipolar devices. For all these reasons, SuperGrid Institute decided to design and fabricate SiC 10 kV PiN diodes. This paper reports on the design, fabrication, packaging and characterization of the SiC 10 kV–50 A PiN diodes
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