AN4671 Datasheet, PDF (1/17 Pages) STMicroelectronics – How to fine tune your SiC MOSFET gate driver to minimize losses

AN4671
Application note
How to fine tune your SiC MOSFET gate driver
to minimize losses
L. Abbatelli, C. Brusca, G. Catalisano
Introduction
Power electronics today is about the constant pursuit of efficiency improvements as well as cost and
size reduction.
In this challenging power conversion scenario, silicon carbide (SiC) power switches are gaining
prominence: for 1200 V power switches, silicon carbide MOSFETs are becoming an increasingly viable
alternative to conventional silicon technologies. The advanced and innovative properties of wide band-
gap materials help ensure that ST’s SiC MOSFETs exhibit low on-state resistance*area in comparison
with silicon MOSFETs, even at high temperatures, and excellent switching performance versus the best-
in-class 1200 V IGBTs in all temperature ranges, thus simplifying the thermal design of power electronic
systems.
With far lower switching losses than for comparable Si-based switches, SiC devices can operate at
switching frequencies two to five times greater than present devices and overall system designs can
also benefit from smaller and lighter passive components. The very low leakage currents boost system
reliability and consistency even when subject to elevated reverse voltages or temperature increases.
This all means that the efficiency delivered by a SiC MOSFET in any application is significantly higher
than silicon-based solutions, especially at high frequencies.
It is therefore crucial to drive SiC MOSFETs in such a way as to facilitate lowest possible conduction
and switching losses, which is why this document explains the main principles for obtaining the best
performance from ST’s 1200 V SiC MOSFET in your application.
The first ST SiC MOSFET given is the 80 mΩ version (SCT30N120), the device is packaged in the
proprietary HiP247™ package and features the industry’s highest junction temperature rating of 200 °C.
All the data reported in the present work refers to the SCT30N120.
April 2015
DocID027654 Rev 1
1/17
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