SiC GTOs Thyristor for Long Term Reliability on Pulsed Power Application Test

Tsz Tsoi, Chase Whitworth, Matthew Kim, Stephen Bayne, Heather O'Brien, Aderinto Ogunniyi

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a wide-bandgap semiconductor with a wider bandgap, higher critical electric field, higher saturation velocity, and higher thermal conductivity than silicon, making it desirable for pulsed power applications. The n-type Gate Turn-off thyristor (nGTO) is a controllable solid-state switch with high blocking voltage and high current conduction capabilities. However, its device structure is challenging to develop using SiC. Wolfspeed has developed a 15.0 kV SiC nGTO that withstood peak current up to 1.0 kA. A testbed was developed to evaluate the long-term reliability of these SiC nGTOs. The pulser operates with a capacitor bank charged to 10.0 kV to deliver a 35.0 μs ring-down current waveform through the device. The SiC nGTOs were pulsed with a repetition rate of 0.5 Hz. It was observed that the device dissipated 700.0 J peak energy during pulsing. COMSOL Multiphysics simulated the SiC nGTO during a single pulsing event. The simulation models the thermal flow and current density in the nGTO. The thermal result shows the peak device temperature rising to 360.1 K after 17 μs into the pulsing event.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2021 IEEE Pulsed Power Conference, PPC 2021
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
ISBN (Electronic)9781665433471
DOIs
StatePublished - 2021
Event2021 IEEE Pulsed Power Conference, PPC 2021 - Denver, United States
Duration: Dec 12 2021Dec 16 2021

Publication series

NameIEEE International Pulsed Power Conference
Volume2021-December
ISSN (Print)2158-4915
ISSN (Electronic)2158-4923

Conference

Conference2021 IEEE Pulsed Power Conference, PPC 2021
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityDenver
Period12/12/2112/16/21

Keywords

  • Power Conditioning
  • Pulsed Power
  • Reliability Test
  • SiC
  • Thermal Modeling
  • nGTO

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