Three-Terminal Si/SiC Hybrid Switch

A Si/SiC hybrid switch is an innovative power semiconductor switch realized by paralleling a Si insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) and a SiC device (metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (mosfet) or junction field-effect transistor). The Si/SiC hybrid switch combines advantages of Si IGBT's high conduction capability and SiC device's fast switching speed, and effectively addresses Si IGBT's high turn-off loss issue and SiC mosfet's high cost concern. However, to control the hybrid switch, two separate gate drivers are usually needed, which increases the complexity and cost. In this letter, a simple and effective gate driver circuit is designed for the Si/SiC hybrid switch, which requires only one control signal and gate driver circuit to drive both Si IGBT and the SiC device, making the hybrid switch a typically three-terminal device. The operation principles and design guidelines are presented and analyzed. A three-terminal 1200-V, 200-A hybrid switch prototype in a half-bridge configuration is developed and experimental results verify its effectiveness.