Comparison of Two Third-Generation 10 kV SiC MOSFET Die’s Switching Performance on a System Level

The fabrication process of medium voltage silicon-carbide MOSFET dies is progressing extensively to optimize and refine the performance of the emerging wide bandgap semiconductor devices, resulting in new iterations of SiC MOSFET dies regularly being released with improved performance characteristics compared to previous iterations. This paper provides a direct comparison of the switching performance of two third-generation 10 kV SiC MOSFET engineering samples from Wolfspeed/CREE. The switching performance of the two 10 kV SiC MOSFETs is evaluated by use of a double-pulse test setup operated at a DC-link voltage of 6 kV and 10 A of load current. The experimental results reveal a 14% reduction in on-state resistance together with more than 25% reduction in the total switching energy under the same test conditions. The comparison gives valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities related to the deployment of new iterations of 10 kV SiC MOSFET dies on a system level.