Device characterization and performance of 1200V/45A SiC JFET module

This paper evaluates the hard-switching performance of a novel cascode configuration of a 1200V/45A SiC JFET module. The device is first characterized and then switched up to 600V through double pulse testing. The capacitive effects of the device are analyzed and account for a significant current spike during turn-on. The switching behavior due to the introduction of varied gate resistances is discussed and analyzed. The switching behavior allows for the extraction of rise time, fall time, dV/dt, di/dt, and the switching losses — E
on
and E
off
— while applying these varying gate resistances. The gate drive circuit is discussed and the hardware and test setup are shown and presented.