Transient characteristics of a 1.8 kV, 3.8 A 4H-SiC bipolar junction transistor

Transient switch-on and switch-off characteristics of 4H-SiC npn BJT's have been studied in the temperature range 180-500 K. Both in common-base and in common-emitter configurations the transistor switch-on times are governed by respective RC time constants. The switch-off processes are strongly affected by surface recombination. The role of the emitter current crowding effect has been discussed. The surface recombination velocity is estimated to be about 10 4 cm s -1 .