Power Electronics ♦ news digest
Cree is advancing the adoption of SiC power devices into mainstream power applications by introducing a comprehensive family of SiC diodes with a wide range of amperage ratings and package options.
“In order to develop the next generation of power electronics, design engineers are looking for the unique performance advantages of SiC Schottky diodes – zero reverse recovery losses, temperature-independent switching losses, higher frequency operation – all with a lower EMI signature,” said John Palmour, Cree co-founder and chief technology officer, Power and RF.
“This new family of diodes allows a higher current density and increased avalanche capability over previous generation SiC Schottky diodes with no penalty in performance. Cree’s recent innovations in device design and commitment to continuous process improvement are allowing us to offer significantly higher amperage ratings at lower cost per amp.”
Cree Z-Rec diodes feature zero reverse recovery, resulting in up to a 50% reduction in switching losses versus comparable silicon diodes. They also exhibit consistent switching performance across their entire temperature range, which simplifies circuit design and reduces the need for complex thermal management.
When used in conjunction with Cree’s recently- introduced 1200V SiC power MOSFETs, these SiC Schottky diodes enable the implementation of all-SiC power electronic circuits with the capability to operate at up to four times higher switching frequencies when compared to conventional silicon diodes and IGBTs.
This enables a reduction in the size, complexity and cost of inverter circuitry, while achieving extremely high system efficiency. Finally, this new family has the additional benefits of higher surge ratings and avalanche capabilities than the previous generation of SiC Schottky diodes, helping to increase overall system reliability.
These devices are ideal as boost diodes and anti-parallel diodes in solar inverters and 3-phase motor drive circuits, as well as in power factor correction boost circuits in power supplies and UPS
equipment. They can also be used in applications where engineers typically parallel many devices to address higher power requirements.
Devices now released are rated for 2A[C4D02120x], 5A[C4D05120x], 10A[C4D10120x],
20A[C4D20120x] and 40A[C4D40120x]. Dependent on amperage ratings, the parts are available in standard or fully-isolated TO-220 and standard TO- 247 packages.
The C4D0212A SiC Schottky diode
These new Z-Rec 1200V Schottky diodes are fully qualified and released for production use.
Cascade Microtech system speeds up time-to-market for power devices
The unique Tesla probe systems with CT-3100/3200 Curve Tracers address high-voltage, high-power measurement requirements of silicon carbide and gallium nitride devices.
Cascade Microtech, an expert at enabling precision measurements of integrated circuits at the wafer level, has announced that Iwatsu Test Instruments Corporation will manufacture CT-3100/3200 Curve Tracers exclusively for Cascade Microtech to provide versatile wafer-level measurement for the growing power device market.
The curve tracer units strongly complement the high-voltage and high-current capabilities of Cascade Microtech’s Tesla probe systems to speed-up the device characterisation process and therefore time-to-market for power device manufacturers.
The market for power transistors will continue to post healthy gains through 2014, according
July 2011
www.compoundsemiconductor.net 93
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104