5-6-4 SiC High-Power Switching Devices The inherent material properties and basic physics behind the large theoretical benefits of SiC over silicon for power switching devices were discussed Section 5.3.2. Similarly, it was discussed in Section 5.4.5 that crystallographic defects found in SiC wafers and epilayers are presently a primary factor limiting...
5-6-4-1 SiC High-Power Rectifiers The high-power diode rectifier is a critical building block of power conversion circuits. Recent reviews of experimental SiC rectifier results are given in References 3, 134, 172, 180, and 181. Most important SiC diode rectifier device design trade-offs roughly parallel well-known silicon rectifier trade-offs, except for the...
5-6-4-1-1 SiC Schottky Power Rectifiers. 4H-SiC power Schottky diodes (with rated blocking voltages up to 1200 V and rated on-state currents up to 20 A as of this writing) are now commercially available . The basic structure of these unipolar diodes is a patterned metal Schottky anode contact residing on top...
5-6-4-1-2 Bipolar and Hybrid Power Rectifiers For higher voltage applications, bipolar minority carrier charge injection (i.e., conductivity modulation) should enable SiC pn diodes to carry higher current densities than unipolar Schottky diodes whose drift regions conduct solely using dopant-atom majority carriers . Consistent with silicon rectifier experience, SiC pn junction generation-related...
5-6-4-2 SiC High-Power Switching Transistors Three terminal power switches that use small drive signals to control large voltages and currents (i.e., power transistors) are also critical building blocks of high-power conversion circuits. However, as of this writing, SiC high-power switching transistors are not yet commercially available for beneficial use in power...
5-6-5 SiC MicroElectromechanical Systems (MEMS) and Sensors As described in Hesketh’s chapter on micromachining in this book, the development and use of siliconbased MEMS continues to expand. While the previous sections of this chapter have centered on the use of SiC for traditional semiconductor electronic devices, SiC is also expected to...
5-7 Future of SiC It can be safely predicted that SiC will never displace silicon as the dominant semiconductor used for the manufacture of the vast majority of the world’s electronic chips that are primarily low-voltage digital and analog chips targeted for operation in normal human environments (computers, cell phones, etc.)....
5-7-1 Future Tied to Material Issues The previous sections of this chapter have already highlighted major known technical obstacles and immaturities that are largely responsible for hindered SiC device capability. In the most general terms, these obstacles boil down to a handful of key fundamental material issues. The rate at which...
5-7-2 Further Recommended Reading