Impact of layout on the surge current robustness of 1.2 KV SiC diodes

This work describes experimental surge current evaluation for various layout design of 1.2kV 4H-SiC JBS diodes. The silicon carbide devices working at temperatures significantly beyond to those of silicon power devices need specific reliability tests, adapted to high temperature operation and/or high power density of this new generation of power devices. Actually, it is not possible to predict the surge current capability by computer simulation because of 3-D effects that occur at high current density. Therefore the only available method for surge current characterization is the experiment. The use of 10ms sinusoidal power current pulses is able to evidence by the I-V characteristic, the temperature developed inside the diode during the power pulse, and the bipolar activation characteristic during the applied power.