Temperature determination of SiC MPS diodes during surge current event with measurement and simulation

The surge current ruggedness is an important factor for a diode in power electronic applications. The diodes will face very high temperatures during a surge current event. In this work, the temperature was determined during surge current event of SiC MPS diodes under different pulse lengths using measurement and numerical simulation. Even though SiC itself can withstand very high temperatures, the maximum operating temperature of the diode is limited by the anode metallization in TO-247 during the surge current event. The temperature distribution during the surge current event was analysed and explained in detail with help of numerical simulation of the diode model in ANSYS.