Toshiba to show SiC-CUBE at PCIM 2023
Proof-of-concept supports the acceleration of power system design
At PCIM Europe 9th to 11th May, Toshiba will show some of its latest engineering advances including the SiC-CUBE proof-of-concept
Developed at Toshiba's High Voltage Lab that Toshiba in Dusseldorf, the SiC-CUBE (pictured above) has been designed to accelerate power system implementation by using parallelism.
This totem-pole power factor correction (PFC) building block supports 22kW 3-phase operation. It is based on the company’s latest wide bandgap technology - featuring its third generation SiC MOSFETs, as well as Schottky barrier diodes and smart gate drivers.
Toshiba says that by having such closely matched constituent components, it has been possible to deliver a fully optimised PFC reference design platform. Its power switching boards, plus inductor and capacitor boards, are all connected to a TMPM4K microcontroller board via individual bridge legs. The 3D stacking arrangement means major footprint savings are realised.
The SiC-CUBE has a compact 140mm x 140mm x 210mm form factor (which is then attached to a heatsink). Use of 650V-rated MOSFETs, rather than ones with 1200V ratings, presents a more cost-effective modular way of implementing PFC than competing solutions, with system bill-of-materials costs kept down.
Thanks to the 3-level configuration, the voltage swing across each MOSFET can be restricted, so the power losses experienced are minimised. The coupling of DC-DC converter hardware to the PFC will result in creation of off-board EV charging infrastructure, while the addition of inverter hardware will address renewable energy generation requirements.
Speeches covering a broad variety of power-related topics include: Development of Ag-Free Active Metal Brazing Filler for Manufacturing Copper-Si3N4 Substrates; Current Adjustable Gate Drive IC with Propagation Delay Reduction Technique for High-Speed Power Transistors; Multi-Level SiC Power Design for PFC and DC/DC Conversion; Novel 2200V Schottky Barrier Diode-Embedded SiC MOSFET Module; and Mixed-Signal Gate Driver IC and Control Schemes for Modern Power Semiconductor Devices.
