A high temperature silicon carbide mosfet power module with integrated silicon-on-insulator-based gate drive

Abstract

This paper presents a board-level integrated silicon carbide (SiC) mosfet power module for high temperature and high power density application. Specifically, a silicon-on-insulator (SOI)-based gate driver capable of operating at 200 °C ambient temperature is designed and fabricated. The sourcing and sinking current capability of the gate driver are tested under various ambient temperatures. Also, a 1200 V/100 A SiC mosfet phase-leg power module is developed utilizing high temperature packaging technologies. The static characteristics, switching performance, and short-circuit behavior of the fabricated power module are fully evaluated at different temperatures. Moreover, a buck converter prototype composed of the SOI gate driver and SiC power module is built for high temperature continuous operation. The converter is operated at different switching frequencies up to 100 kHz, with its junction temperature monitored by a thermosensitive electrical parameter and compared with thermal simulation results. The experimental results from the continuous operation demonstrate the high temperature capability of the power module at a junction temperature greater than 225 °C.