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Silicon Carbide for Power Devices
Compared to Si, SiC exhibits the following advantages:
- Significantly lower power losses during power conversion
- Higher thermal conductivity which enables operation at significantly higher temperatures
- On-resistance up to two orders of magnitude lower
Merits of Carbide(SiC) over Si
- High frequency (Si is limited to 10 kHz)
- Higher energy efficiency due to higher heat resistance
- Higher temperature operation
- Larger Thermal Conductivity: High power operation with reduced cooling requirements
Characteristics of WBG material
Substance--> | Si | SiC | GaN |
---|---|---|---|
Bandgap(eV) | 1.1 | 3.3 | 3.4 |
Electron Mobility(cm2/Vs) | 1350 | 700 | 1500 |
Electric Field for breakdown(MV/cm) | 0.3 | 2.8 | 3.3 |
Figure of Merit (εμ0Ec3) | 1 | 440 | 1130 |
Thermal Conductivity (W/cm-K) | 1.5 | 4.5 | 1.3 |
Electron Saturation Velocity(107cm/sec) | 1 | 2 | 2.5 |
Applications for Silicon Carbide (SiC) Power Devices
SiC based power devices are suitable for high power and moderate to high switching frequency applications such as:
- Electrical Transmission & Distribution
- Rail
- Industrial Drives
- Electric Vehicles
Sector specific major application of SiC based power elcetronics
Electric vehicle
- Electric drive
- Power conversion: DC-DC converter. Inverter
- Energy storage/ battery
- Charging infrastructure - onboard and offboard charger
Industrial
- Variable frequency drive(VFD) / Variable speed drive (VSD)
- Heavy duty power conversion: inverter, rectifier
- Solid-state circuit breakers
- Welders
- Power tools
Electric grid
- High voltage DC (HVDC) interface
- Flexible AC transmission system (FACTS)
- Microgrids
Renewables
- Photvoltaic
- Wind interface: inverter
- Energy storage / battery
Data Centre
- Power conversion - rectifier, DC-DC converter, inverter
- Uninterrupted Power Supply(UPS)
Rail
- Power conversion: regenerative breaking, auxiliaries
- VFD
Aerospace and defense
- Ammunition: Gate Turn-off Thyristor(GTO)/ integrated gate-commutated thyristor(IGCT)
- Replace electromechanical relays, pneumatics, and hydraulics