Gate Switching Instability in Silicon Carbide MOSFETs—Part I: Experimental

摘要: In the context of renewable energy generation, compact and efficient electric power conversion is becoming increasingly important. Due to their low-loss switching capability at high frequencies, of up to hundreds of kilohertz, silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs are currently gaining a lot of attention from industry and are gradually replacing silicon (Si)-based devices in numerous applications. Recently, it has been revealed that SiC MOSFETs show a new type of instability in extensive high-frequency operations when the device is switched in bipolar mode. This gate switching instability has been observed in all commercial devices and occurs concurrently with the well-known bias temperature instability. We summarize the defining experimental characteristics of gate switching instability, including frequency, voltage, temperature, transition time dependencies, and the impact of undershoots in gate voltage. Subsequently …