Microsemi expands SiC range
New SiC MOSFETs and Schottky barrier diodes target industrial and automotive markets
Microsemi is sampling the first product in its next-generation 1200V SiC MOSFETs, the 40mΩ MSC040SMA120B. The company has also announced the release of its complementary 1200 V SiC Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs), further expanding its SiC discretes and modules portfolios.
The devices will be exhibited at APEC 2018, San Antonio, Texas, March 4-8, 2018.
The new SiC MOSFET product family is highly avalanche-rated, demonstrating the devices' ruggedness for industrial, automotive and commercial aviation power applications, and offers a high short circuit withstand rating for robust operation. Additional members of the product family will be released in the coming months, including commercially and AEC-Q101 qualified 700 V and 1200 V SiC MOSFET solutions to address a wide range of power applications which can leverage Microsemi's newly released SiC SBDs.
"Our new SiC MOSFET product family provides customers with the benefits of more efficient switching and high reliability, particularly in comparison to Silicon diodes, Silicon MOSFETs and IGBT solutions," said Leon Gross, vice president and business unit manager for Microsemi's Power Discretes and Modules business unit.
"Customers focused on developing cost-effective power electronics solutions for rugged environments can select their ideal solutions from these next-generation offerings, with the ability to scale to their specific SiC MOSFET needs."
Microsemi's next-generation SiC MOSFETs and new SiC SBDs are designed with high repetitive unclamped inductive switching (UIS) capability at rated current, with no degradation or failures. The new SiC MOSFETs maintain high UIS capability at approximately 10-15 Joule per square centimeter (J/cm2) and robust short circuit protection at 3-5 microseconds .
The company's SiC SBDs are designed with balanced surge current, forward voltage, thermal resistance and thermal capacitance ratings at low reverse current for lower switching loss. In addition, its SiC MOSFET and SiC SBD die can be paired together for use in modules.
Microsemi's new SiC MOSFETs and SBDs are suited for a wide range of applications within the industrial and automotive markets, and its SiC MOSFETs can also be used in switch mode power supply and motor control applications within the medical, aerospace, defence and data centre markets.
Examples include hybrid electric vehicle (HEV)/EV charging, conductive/inductive onboard charging (OBC), DC-DC converters, EV powertrain/tractional control, switch mode power supply, photovoltaic (PV) inverters, motor control and actuation for aviation.
According to research and consulting firm, IndustryARC, wide bandgap semiconductor technologies, namely SiC-based devices, are likely to shift from development to commercial phase due to growth driven in power electronics applications to enhance power conversion efficiency and minimise power losses.
The advancement in power conversion paves the way of SiC-based devices in EV charging, which helps lessen battery charging cycles as well reduce the high cost of battery packs. Integration of SiC devices in on-board charging and DC-to-DC power conversion systems enable higher switching frequency and lower losses. IndustryARC expects the SiC market in EV charging to witness a growth rate of approximately 33 percent until 2024.
Microsemi says it is well-positioned with these trends, with its SiC MOSFETs offering 10 times lower failure-in-time (FIT) rate than comparable Si IGBTs at rated voltages with regard to neutron susceptibility. Its SiC SBDs complement its SiC MOSFET robustness with UIS ratings 20 percent higher than competitor parts tested.
