UnitedSiC adds nine package options, including 750V, 6mOhm SiC FET
SiC power semiconductor manufacturer, UnitedSiC has responded to requests for higher performance, higher efficiency SiC FETs with the announcement of nine new device or package options and a 750V, 6mOhm FET.
The 6mOhm device has an RDS(on) of less than half the nearest SiC MOSFET competitor, claimed UnitedSiC and provides a robust short circuit withstand time rating of 5ms. The package options in the 750V SiC FET series are rated at 6.0, 9.0, 11, 23, 33, and 44mOhms. All devices are available in the TO-247-4L package and the 18, 23, 33, 44, and 60mOhm devices also come in the TO-247-3L.
Gen 4 SiC FETs from UnitedSiC are a ‘cascode’ of a SiC JFET and a co-packaged silicon MOSFET. These provide the full advantages of wide band-gap technology, i.e., high speed and low losses with high temperature operation, while retaining an easy, stable, and robust gate drive with integral ESD protection. The advantages are quantified by Figures of Merit (FoMs) such as RDS(on) x A, a measure of conduction losses per unit die area. Gen 4 SiC FETs achieve the lowest values in the market at both high and low die temperatures. FoM RDS(on) x EOSS/QOSS is important in hard-switching applications and is half the nearest competitor value, claimed UnitedSiC. FoM RDS(on) x COSS(tr) is critical in soft-switching applications and UnitedSiC device values are around 30 per cent less than competing devices, rated at 650V compared with UnitedSiC’s at 750V.
For hard switching applications, the integral body diode of SiC FETs has a faster recovery speed and forward voltage drop compared with competing Si MOSFET or SiC MOSFET technologies, according to the company. Other advantages of the Gen 4 technology are reduced thermal resistance from die to case by advanced wafer thinning techniques and silver-sinter die attach. These features enable maximum power output for low die temperature rise in demanding applications.
The SiC FETs are suitable for traction drives and on- and off-board chargers in electric vehicles and all stages of uni- and bi-directional power conversion in renewable energy inverters, power factor correction, telecomms converters and AC/DC or DC/DC power conversion generally. They can also boost efficiency in established applications and are backwards compatible with Si MOSFET and IGBT gate drives and TO-247 packaging.
