0620 Mw Rohm 4th Gen Mosfet Figure 5eea7cc0968ea

4th-Generation SiC MOSFETs Boast Industry’s Lowest On-Resistance

June 17, 2020

These 1200-V devices provide high withstand voltages with low losses, making them apt for widespread adoption in the main drive inverters of EVs.

David Maliniak

Related To: Microwaves & RF

In recent years, the proliferation of next-generation electric vehicles (xEVs) has hastened the development of smaller, lighter, and more efficient electrical systems. Improving efficiency while decreasing the size of the drive system’s main inverter remains among the most important challenges, requiring further advancements in power devices. Onboard vehicle batteries are gaining in capacity so as to improve cruising range, while also moving to higher voltages (800 V) to meet demands for shorter charging times.

For power semiconductors, there is often a tradeoff between lower on-resistance and short-circuit withstand time, which is required to strike a balance for achieving lower power losses in SiC MOSFETs. In its new 4^th-generation 1200-V, SiC power MOSFETs, ROHM was able to successfully improve this trade-off relationship and reduce on-resistance per unit area by 40% over conventional products without sacrificing short-circuit withstand time by further improving an original double-trench structure. In addition, significant reduction in the devices’ parasitic capacitance (which is a problem during switching) makes it possible to achieve 50% lower switching loss over the company’s previous generation of SiC MOSFETs.

As a result, the new SiC MOSFETs can deliver low on-resistance with high-speed switching performance, contributing to greater miniaturization and lower power consumption in a variety of applications, including automotive traction inverters and switching power supplies.

In 2015, ROHM began mass production of the industry-first trench-type SiC MOSFETs utilizing an original structure. In these new devices, the company has reduced on resistance by 40% compared to conventional products without sacrificing short-circuit withstand time by further improving its original double trench structure.

Generally, lower on resistances and larger currents tend to increase the various parasitic capacitances in MOSFETs, which can inhibit the inherent high-speed switching characteristics of SiC. However, ROHM was able to achieve 50% lower switching loss over conventional products by significantly reducing the gate-drain capacitance (Cgd).

Bare chip samples are available now with discrete packages to be offered in the future.

ROHM, www.rohm.com

About the Author

David Maliniak | Executive Editor, Microwaves & RF

I am Executive Editor of Microwaves & RF, an all-digital publication that broadly covers all aspects of wireless communications. More particularly, we're keeping a close eye on technologies in the consumer-oriented 5G, 6G, IoT, M2M, and V2X markets, in which much of the wireless market's growth will occur in this decade and beyond. I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, developers, and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.

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About me:

In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy, leaving to rejoin the EOEM B2B publishing world in January 2020. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.