Comprehensive Analysis of Switching Effects from External Anti-Parallel 10 kV JBS Diode

This paper comprehensively investigates the switching performance of two customized two-level half-bridge power modules operated at 6 kV, with and without the external anti-paralleled Silicon Carbide (SiC) Junction Barrier Schottky (JBS) diode, under identical layouts. The switching energy dissipation during turn-on and turn-off, under different temperatures are analyzed by comparing the different switching energy contributions based on displacement current measurements. The half-bridge module lacking a SiC JBS diode shows excellent reverse recovery performance, in comparison to power module containing a SiC JBS diode. This is due to accumulated capacitive charge on the intrinsic junction capacitance of the JBS diode, resulting in additional dissipated energy during transitions. Therefore, this paper presents basis of using the body diode of 10 kV SiC MOSFETs without paralleling external anti-paralleled JBS diodes in future applications.