A monolithic SiC drive circuit for SiC Power BJTs

Silicon Carbide (SiC) is an excellent candidate for high temperature electronics applications, thanks to its wide bandgap. SiC power BJTs are commercially available nowadays, and it is demanding to drive them efficiently. This paper reports on the design, layout specifics, and measurements results of a SiC drive integrated circuit (IC) designed for driving SiC power BJTs. The circuit has been tested in different loading conditions (resistive and capacitive), at switching frequencies up to 500kHz, and together with a commercial power BJT. The SiC drive IC is shown to have a robust operation over the entire temperature range from 25 °C to 500 °C.