Comparison of BaSIC(DMM) and BaSIC(EMM) Topologies to Enhance Short-Circuit Capability in SiC Power MOSFETs

SiC power MOSFETs have poor short-circuit (SC) withstand capability compared to Si IGBTs. A new method, called BaSIC, with a low voltage silicon MOSFET in series with the source of the SiC power MOSFET, has been recently demonstrated for improvement of the SC capability with minimal impact on normal circuit operation. In this paper, the two BaSIC implementations using either a depletion-mode MOSFET (DMM) or an enhancement-mode MOSFET (EMM) are compared for the first time. The user-configurable BaSIC(EMM) topology was found to result in a superior overall performance. A 1.86x improvement in SC capability was achieved with the BaSIC(EMM) topology with 4% increase in on-resistance and 13 % increase in switching loss versus the BaSIC(DMM) topology which achieved a 2.4x improvement in SC capability with a 19% increase in on-resistance and a 40% increase in switching loss. The BaSIC(DMM) topology offers simplicity of implementation, while the BaSIC(EMM) topology offers a unique user-programmable capability for power electronics engineers.