All - Silicon Carbide Power Modules Based High Performance Inverter for Traction Applications

Abstract

The Silicon (Si) IGBT was an enormous positive disruption to the area of Power Electronics in the 1980s. It has been the workhorse of the industry ever since. It is currently available in its 7th generation. The next revolutionary technology is power semiconductor devices made with wide bandgap materials like Silicon Carbide (SiC). SiC devices have higher critical breakdown strength, wider bandgap, thinner drift layer and better heat conductivity when compared to Si
devices. A traction inverter using SiC devices will have low value of conductivity loss, lower values of switching and recovery losses, increased range in terms of switching frequency and temperature with better heat dissipation. The converter will be smaller and lighter due to less cooling requirements. A study was done on various options available. Efficiency was compared using an improved model of SiC MOSFET.