scholarly journals The current status of power semiconductors

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Vobecký

Trends in the design and technology of power semiconductor devices are discussed on the threshold of the year 2015. Well established silicon technologies continue to occupy most of applications thanks to the maturity of switches like MOSFET, IGBT, IGCT and PCT. Silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) are striving to take over that of the silicon. The most relevant SiC device is the MPS (JBS) diode, followed by MOSFET and JFET. GaN devices are represented by lateral HEMT. While the long term reliability of silicon devices is well trusted, the SiC MOSFETs and GaN HEMTs are struggling to achieve a similar confidence. Two order higher cost of SiC equivalent functional performance at device level limits their application to specific cases, but their number is growing. Next five years will therefore see the co-existence of these technologies. Silicon will continue to occupy most of applications and dominate the high-power sector. The wide bandgap devices will expand mainly in the 600 - 1200 V range and dominate the research regardless of the voltage class.

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 2155-2163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Millan ◽  
Philippe Godignon ◽  
Xavier Perpina ◽  
Amador Perez-Tomas ◽  
Jose Rebollo

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 (1) ◽  
pp. 000514-000523
Author(s):  
Stephan W. Henning ◽  
Luke Jenkins ◽  
Sidni Hale ◽  
Christopher G. Wilson ◽  
John Tennant ◽  
...  

Until recently, power semiconductors were usually produced as TO, power-PAK, and D-PAK style packaging, due to die size, thermal dissipation requirements, and the vertical flow of current through the devices. The introduction of GaN to power semiconductors has allowed manufactures to produce devices with approximately 9% the footprint of similar rated D-PAK Si MOSFETs. In addition, GaN semiconductors have much better theoretical limits of specific on-resistance to breakdown voltage, when compared to Si and SiC. As of now, GaN devices offer very good performance at much less the cost of SiC, very small footprints, no reverse recovery losses of a body diode, very low RDS(ON), and very fast turn-on and turn-off times due to QGS in single-digit nC range. GaN semiconductors are expected to make vast improvements over the next decade. Unfortunately, this decrease in package size has made design prototyping significantly more challenging. Traditional manual solder iron assembly is not sufficient for these devices. Difficulties include board design, device handling, alignment, solder reflow, flux residue removal, and post-assembly inspection. The EPC 2014 and 2015 devices both have a 4mm pitch and are 1.85mm2 and 6.70mm2, respectively. In many situations, the decreased pitch and small overall size of these devices mandate the use of automated assembly equipment, such as a pick & place, to ensure quality and repeatability of assembly. However, this may not be feasible for initial prototyping, due to cost and time constraints. Here we will present a technique for manual assembly of these chip scale devices, applied specifically to the EPC 2014 and 2015. This should decrease the cost and turn time for prototype assembly when utilizing these types of chip scale packaged power semiconductor devices.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 138-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina DiMarino ◽  
Zheng Chen ◽  
Dushan Boroyevich ◽  
Rolando Burgos ◽  
Paolo Mattavelli

Focused on high-temperature (200°C) operation, this paper seeks to provide insight into state-of-the-art 1.2 kV silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductor devices; namely the MOSFET, BJT, SJT, and normally-off JFET. This is accomplished by characterizing and comparing the latest generation of these wide bandgap devices from various manufacturers (Cree, GE, ROHM, Fairchild, GeneSiC, and SemiSouth). To carry out this study, the static and dynamic characterization of each device is performed under increasing temperatures (25–200°C). Accordingly, this paper describes the experimental setup used and the different measurements conducted, which include: threshold voltage, current gain, specific on-resistance, and the turn-on and turn-off switching energies of the devices. The driving method used for each device is also detailed. Key trends and observations are reported in an unbiased manner throughout the paper and summarized in the conclusion.


2015 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 423-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Homer Alan Mantooth ◽  
Kang Peng ◽  
Enrico Santi ◽  
Jerry L. Hudgins

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 (HITEN) ◽  
pp. 000082-000087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina DiMarino ◽  
Zheng Chen ◽  
Dushan Boroyevich ◽  
Rolando Burgos ◽  
Paolo Mattavelli

Focused on high-temperature (200 °C) operation, this paper seeks to provide insight into state-of-the-art 1.2 kV Silicon Carbide (SiC) power semiconductor devices; namely the MOSFET, BJT, SJT, and normally-off JFET. This is accomplished by characterizing and comparing the latest generation of these wide bandgap devices from various manufacturers (Cree, GE, Rohm, Fairchild, GeneSiC, and SemiSouth). To carry out this study, the static and dynamic characterization of each device is performed under increasing temperatures (25–200 °C). Accordingly, this paper describes the experimental setup used and the different measurements conducted, which include: threshold voltage, current gain, specific on-resistance, and the turn-on and turn-off switching energies of the devices. The driving method used for each device is also detailed. Key trends and observations are reported in an unbiased manner throughout the paper and summarized in the conclusion.


2015 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 434-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Santi ◽  
Kang Peng ◽  
Homer Alan Mantooth ◽  
Jerry L. Hudgins

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