Analysis of the 1st and 3rd Quadrant Transients of Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Double-Trench SiC Power MOSFETs

In this paper, performance at 1
^st
and 3
^rd
quadrant operation of Silicon and Silicon Carbide (SiC) symmetrical and asymmetrical double-trench, superjunction and planar power MOSFETs is analysed through a wide range of experimental measurements using compact modeling. The devices are evaluated on a high voltage clamped inductive switching test rig and switched at a range of switching rates at elevated junction temperatures. It is shown, experimentally, that in the 1
^st
quadrant, CoolSiC (SiC asymmetrical double-trench) MOSFET and SiC symmetrical double-trench MOSFET demonstrate more stable temperature coefficients. Silicon Superjunction MOSFETs exhibits the lowest turn-off switching rates due to the large input capacitance. The evaluated SiC Planar MOSFET also performs sub-optimally at turn-on switching due to its higher input capacitance and shows more temperature sensitivity due to its lower threshold voltage. In the 3
^rd
quadrant, the relatively larger reverse recovery charge of Silicon Superjunction MOSFET negatively impacts the turn-OFF transients compared with the SiC MOSFETs. It is also seen that among the SiC MOSFETs, the two double-trench MOSFET structures outperform the selected SiC planar MOSFET in terms of reverse recovery.