SiC Based Single Chip Programmable AC to DC Power Converter

Abstract

A single chip Programmable AC to DC Power Converter, consisting of wide band gap SiC MOSFET and SiC diodes, has been proposed which converts high frequency ac voltage to a conditioned dc output voltage at user defined given power level. The converter has high conversion efficiency because of negligible reverse recovery current in SiC diode and SiC MOSFET. High frequency operation reduces the need of bigger size inductor. Lead inductors are enough to maintain current continuity. A complete electrical analysis, die area estimation and thermal analysis of the converter has been presented. It has been found that settling time and peak overshoot voltage across the device has reduced significantly when SiC devices are used with respect to Si devices. Reduction in peak overshoot also increases the converter efficiency. The total package substrate dimension of the converter circuit is only 5 mm × 5 mm. Thermal analysis performed in the paper shows that these devices would be very useful for use as miniaturized power converters for load currents of up to 5-7 amp, keeping the package thermal conductivity limitation in mind. The converter is ideal for voltage requirements for sub-5 V level power supplies for high temperatures and space electronics systems.