Comparison of static, switching and thermal behavior between a 1500 V silicon and silicon carbide bipolar diodes

This paper proposes a comparison between 1500 V Si bipolar diode and 1500 V 4H-SiC bipolar diode operations. The 1500 V blocking voltage is chosen because it corresponds to the highest rating for commercial silicon high voltage rectifiers. Electrical simulations (ISE program) are performed taking into account structure descriptions in agreement with the technology state of the art. The static and dynamic characteristics are given versus temperature for both materials. The impact of the higher thermal conductivity of SiC on the operating diode junction temperature is presented. These results are discussed in terms of application interests.