William B. Ray

Failure Analysis of 1200-V/150-A SiC MOSFET Under Repetitive Pulsed Overcurrent Conditions

SiC MOSFETs are a leading option for increasing the power density of power electronics; however, for these devices to supersede the Si insulated-gate bipolar transistor, their characteristics have to be further understood. Two SiC vertically oriented planar gate D-MOSFETs rated for 1200 V/150 A were repetitively subjected to pulsed overcurrent conditions to evaluate their failure mode due to this common source of electrical stress. This research supplements recent work that demonstrated the long term reliability of these same devices [1]. Using an RLC pulse-ring-down test bed, these devices hard-switched 600 A peak current pulses, corresponding to a current density of 1500 A/cm2. Throughout testing, static characteristics of the devices such as BVDSS, RDS (on), and VGS(th) were measured with a high power device analyzer. The experimental results indicated that a conductive path was formed through the gate oxide; TCAD simulations revealed localized heating at the SiC/SiO2 interface as a result of the extreme high current density present in the devices JFET region. However, the high peak currents and repetition rates required to produce the conductive path through the gate oxide demonstrate the robustness of SiC MOSFETs under the pulsed overcurrent conditions common in power electronic applications.

High-Mobility Stable 1200-V, 150-A 4H-SiC DMOSFET Long-Term Reliability Analysis Under High Current Density Transient Conditions

For SiC DMOSFETs to obtain widespread usage in power electronics their long-term operational ability to handle the stressful transient current and high temperatures common in power electronics needs to be further verified. To determine the long-term reliability of a single 4H-SiC DMOSFET, the effects of extreme high current density were evaluated. The 4H-SiC DMOSFET has an active conducting area of 40 mm2, and is rated for 1200 V and 150 A. The device was electrically stressed by hards-witching transient currents in excess of four times the given rating (>600 A) corresponding to a current density of 1500 A/cm2. Periodically throughout testing, several device characteristics including RDS(on) and VG S(th) were measured. After 500 000 switching cycles, the device showed a 6.77% decrease in RDS (on), and only a 132-mV decreased in VG S(th). Additionally, the dc characteristics of the device were analyzed from 25 to 150 °C and revealed a 200-mV increase in on-state voltage drop at 20 A and a 2-V reduction in VG S(th) at 150 °C. These results show this SiC DMOSFET has robust long-term reliability in high-power applications that are susceptible to pulse over currents, such as pulsed power modulators and hard-switched power electronics.

High performance, large-area, 1600 V / 150 A, 4H-SiC DMOSFET for robust high-power and high-temperature applications

In this paper, we report our recently developed 2^nd Generation, large-area (56 mm² with an active conducting area of 40 mm²) 4H-SiC DMOSFET, which can reliably block 1600 V with very low leakage current under a gate-bias (V_G) of 0 V at temperatures up to 200°C. The device also exhibits a low on-resistance (R_ON) of 12.4 mΩ at 150 A and V_G of 20 V. DC and dynamic switching characteristics of the SiC DMOSFET have also been compared with a commercially available 1200 V/ 200 A rated Si trench gate IGBT. The switching energy of the SiC DMOSFET at 600 V input voltage bus is > 4X lower than that of the Si IGBT at room-temperature and > 7X lower at 150°C. A comprehensive study on intrinsic reliability of this 2^nd generation SiC MOSFET has been performed to build consumer confidence and to achieve broad market adoption of this disruptive power switch technology.

Analysis of GaN power MOSFET exporsure to pulsed overcurrents

The advancement of wide bandgap semiconductor materials has led to the development of Gallium Nitride (GaN) power semiconductor devices, specifically GaN Power MOSFETs. GaN devices have improved characteristics in carrier mobility and on-state resistance compared to Silicon solid state switches. With the development of these new power semiconductor devices a need was established to understand the behavior of the devices switching performance under stress, with regards to situations in pulsing circuits. Through the examination of the switching characteristics of GaN devices, the results can be used for the improvement of advanced pulsing circuit design with GaN solid state switches. In this paper the authors develop a test bed to expose the GaN Power MOSFETs to single and repetitive pulsed overcurrents. The test bed was developed using a Pulse Ring Down board in a radially symmetric configuration to minimize the total equivalent inductance and resistance. The test bed switches the GaN MOSFET with low impedance between the DC bus and ground to induce the stress the MOSFET experiences during pulsed overcurrents. The DC characteristics were measured between switching sets to reveal characteristic signs of potential degradation and failure modes due to pulsed overcurrents. The single and repetitive pulse switching characteristics are captured, analyzed, and shown.

Ruggedness evaluation of 56mm 2 , 180 A SiC DMOSFETs as a function of pulse repetition rate for high power applications

Modern power electronics systems try to maximize power density and efficiency. As such, the active switch is required to safely handle very stressful transient conditions. A 56 mm2, 180 A, SiC DMOSFET manufactured by Cree Inc. is evaluated by electrically stressing the device in a RLC ring-down test system capable of producing peak current in excess of 600 A (>3X rated current) and di/dts as high as 860 A/μs. The device was hard-switched 5,000 times at repetition rates of 1, 2, 5, and 10 Hz for a total of 20,000 switching events. The device characteristics were monitored every 1,000 shots on a high power curve tracer to determine device degradation. The devices showed no changes in blocking characteristics and minimal changes in on-state characteristics due to shifts in the threshold voltage after 20,000 hard switching events. The threshold voltage shifts over the test period are minimal with a +/- 93 mV deviation from the average of 4.39 V. With the stability of the threshold voltage, on-state characteristics, and blocking characteristics; this shows that this device would perform reliably within commercial applications that include stressful switching conditions.

Development and testing of an active high voltage saturation probe for characterization of ultra-high voltage silicon carbide semiconductor devices

Obtaining accurate collector to emitter voltage measurements when characterizing high voltage silicon carbide (SiC) devices requires the ability to measure voltages in the range of zero to 10 V while the device is in the on-state and the ability to withstand ultra-high voltages while the device is in the off-state. This paper presents a specialized voltage probe capable of accurately measuring the aforementioned range. A comparison is made between the proposed probe and other commonly used high voltage probe alternatives in relation to high voltage SiC device testing. Testing of the probe was performed to ensure linearity, high accuracy, and high bandwidth.

Pulsed power switching of 4H-SiC vertical D-MOSFET and device characterization

The purpose of this research is to characterize and compare CREEs new N-Channel Silicon Carbide (4H-SiC) vertical power D-MOSFET with CREEs previous generation of N-Channel Silicon Carbide (4H-SiC) vertical power D-MOSFET. Changes made to the newest MOSFET design lead to a 400% increase in pulsed current handling capability over the previous generation device with the same active area.

Analysis of advanced 20 KV/20 a silicon carbide power insulated gate bipolar transistor in resistive and inductive switching tests

The power density of pulsed power systems can be increased with the utilization of silicon carbide power devices1. With the latest developments in manufacturing techniques, the fabrication of insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) devices with blocking voltages as high as 20 kV are now possible2. A complete practical understanding of ultra-high voltage silicon carbide device switching parameters is not yet known. The purpose of this research is to show switching parameters extracted from inductive and resistive switching tests performed on state of the art 20 kV silicon carbide IGBTs. Resistive switching tests were used to extract device rise time, fall time, turn-on delay, turn-off delay and conduction losses. Double pulsed inductive switching tests were used to extract turn-on and turn-off switching energies and peak power dissipation. The data was obtained at case temperatures from 25 C to 150 C.

Evaluation and comparison of 1200-V/285-A silicon carbide half-bridge MOSFET modules

Silicon Carbide (4H-SiC) is a state-of-the-art solution for increasing the energy density of pulsed power and power electronics. High power SiC MOSFET modules have only recently become commercially available; for widespread acceptance further device characterization and reliability testing is necessary. The purpose of this work is to establish and compare device characteristics for two SiC power modules. Of the two modules tested, one contained Cree die and the other Rohm die. The device characteristics presented for the two modules are switching losses (EON & EOFF) and on-state resistance (RDS(ON)). EON, EOFF, and RDS(ON) were measured at 25°C and 125°C. The RDS(ON) of the two modules was determined to be approximately equal; however, the SiC module containing the Cree die yielded significantly lower turn-on and turn-off switching losses. The measurements presented in this work demonstrate SiC power modules are a leading solution for high energy density applications.

Continuous switching of ultra-high voltage silicon carbide MOSFETs

Silicon carbide power semiconductor devices are capable of increasing the power density of power electronics systems [1, 2]. In recent years, devices rated to block voltages up to 20 kV have been demonstrated [3]. These research grade devices must be fully characterized to determine operating characteristics as well as failure mechanisms. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the continuous switching performance of ultra-high voltage metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFET) rated for 15 kV / 10 A. A high voltage boost converter was developed to evaluate the continuous switching performance where the high-voltage MOSFET is utilized as the main switching element. During operation, the on-state voltage, gate leakage current, and dc characteristics are monitored to determine device degradation. Measured device degradation is presented as a comparison of initial and final dc characterization.