A Study of AC-DC ZVS-PWM Boost Converters with Silicon Carbide Diodes

A study of AC-DC zero-voltage switched (ZVS) pulsewidth modulated (PWM) boost converters with silicon carbide (SiC) boost diodes instead of silicon (Si) boost diodes is presented in the paper. The paper reviews the general principles of active auxiliary circuits that are used to help the main boost power switch turn on with ZVS, then explains how these circuits operate differently when SiC boost diodes are used in place of Si diodes. Considerations that should be taken into account when designing a ZVS-PWM boost converter with SiC diodes are discussed, and experimental results obtained from a prototype of an example converter are presented to confirm the concepts discussed in the paper.