Benchmarking and Efficiency Analysis of State-Of-The-Art 200 V Diode Technologies Under Fast Switching Conditions

The trend of maximising the power density in medium power converters has been leading to the increasing implementation of high switching frequencies generally accompanied by higher switching dynamics. This paper presents a comprehensive performance comparison of 200V rated diodes under fast switching conditions with high current transients di/dt up to 1:2 A/ns . For this purpose, a low inductive double-pulse measurement circuit as well as a suitable 100V/ 24V DC/DC converter were designed. The focus of this investigation is set on the switching characteristics and the efficiency performance within the DC/DC converter. Different technologies are compared namely silicon germanium, Trench Schottky, Planar Schottky, Planar pn, glass passivated pn and MOS Controlled Diodes. It is revealed that bipolar devices can outperform Planar Schottky devices in terms of switching performance for certain operating conditions.