When it comes to selecting a high-power switching device for power-conversion applications, your two main choices were the silicon MOSFET or the IGBT. The latest power-circuit designs such as AC-DC converters, inverters, DC-DC converters and others have pushed the voltage levels beyond 1000 V at ever-higher current levels. Today’s devices, including silicon superjunction MOSFETs and IGBTs, can’t always meet the specifications of some of these advanced switch-mode power supplies.
A new solution available today is the wide-bandgap (WBG) silicon-carbon (SiC) MOSFET. For high-voltage switching, SiC MOSFETs bring notable advantages compared to traditional silicon MOSFETs and IGBTs. Among the benefits derived from SiC are switching high-voltage power rails exceeding 1,000 V and operating at hundreds of kilohertz beyond the capabilities of even the best superjunction silicon MOSFETs.