High-Voltage Silicon MOSFETs, GaN, and SiC: All have a place

Focus:

Many are trying to forecast the impact of SiC and GaN technology on the power semiconductor market. This article, which is written by a supplier of silicon MOSFETs and IGBTs (with no SiC or GaN at the time of publication), aims to reassure engineers that SiC and GaN transistors will not supplant silicon MOSFETs and IGBTs. Instead, both old and new technologies will co-exist. It argues that the silicon technologies offer ruggedness, pricing and performance that will continue to keep them relevant in the face of new SiC and GaN introductions. Spread across 10 printed pages, this online article contains much interesting technical information including descriptions and comparisons of planar and SJ silicon MOSFETs and IGBTs, tradeoffs in their design, and their applications; characteristics of SiC and GaN materials; issues surrounding manufacturing of SiC and GaN power devices (mainly substrate issues), pricing and more. Much of this technical discussion should still be relevant, except for the descriptions of available SiC and GaN devices. Given the many GaN product introductions in the past few years, that information is out of date.

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Author & Publication:

Philip Zuk, Director of Market Development, High-Voltage Group, Vishay Siliconix, EDN, Jun 20 2012

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