April 17, 2020 by Mrinal Gokhale
ON Semiconductor, a major semiconductor solutions supplier, has added to their wide bandgap solutions portfolio. In March 2020, the Phoenix based supplier announced their release of two new silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETS.
Made for high-growth applications, the 900V and 1200V N-Channel solutions feature longevity, rapid performance, and low power loss compared to that of silicon MOSFETS.
The most common applications for these new MOSFET solutions include solar power inverters, onboard charging for electric vehicles (EV), uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), server power supplies and EV charging stations.
In the press release, Gary Straker, VP of the Power MOFSET Division stated, “If design engineers are to meet the challenging efficiency and power density goals that modern renewable energy, automotive, IT and telecom applications demand, then they require high-performance, high-reliability MOSFET devices.”
Two variation parts of ON Semiconductor's 900V MOSFETs
Metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETS) are the most commonly used digital circuit transistors to date. Memory chips and microprocessors often include hundreds of MOSFETS for their high functionality, simplistic structure, and operational efficiency. The MOSFET structure includes four terminals: source, gate, drain, and body.
MOSFETS are formulated from a semiconductor’s controlled oxidation, which is typically silicon. But the silicon carbide (SiC) blend implemented by ON Semiconductor outperform the average silicon formula in several ways:
Slower electron-hole pair generation for less leakage
Critical breakdown strength for higher voltage tolerance
Higher thermal conductivity for efficient heat transportation
Higher on-state resistance reduces conducting losses
One example of SiC MOSFET’s superiority in functionality is in bipolar versus unipolar switches. Silicone MOSFETS, used in bipolar switches, includes a frequency that is contingent upon plasma in the drift region to be removed. Unipolar SiC MOSFET devices do not have this restriction, which leads to higher switching frequencies.
ON Semiconductor’s automotive MOFSETs included the 80V and 100V solutions, both of which are silicone-based. Each product is praised for its energy efficiency and figure of merit (FOM), an engineering industry standard that compares a product’s performance to its competitors or alternatives.
