Infineon Introduces Third Generation Silicon Carbide Schottky Diodes

Infineon Technologies AG introduced its third generation thinQ!(tm) SiC Schottky diodes. Featuring the industry's lowest device capacitance for any given current rating, which enhances overall system efficiency at higher switching frequencies and under light load conditions, the new thinQ! diodes help reduce overall power converter system costs. Additionally, with its third generation, Infineon provides the industry's broadest SiC Schottky diode portfolio which not only includes the TO-220 package (2-pin version) but also the DPAK package for high power density surface mount designs.

Main application areas for SiC Schottky diodes are active Power Factor Correction (CCM PFC) in Switched-Mode Power Supplies (SMPS) and other AC/DC and DC/DC power conversion applications such as solar inverters and motor drives.

Compared to the second generation, the device capacitances of the Infineon third generation SiC Schottky diodes are about 40 percent lower, which reduces switching losses. For example in a 1 kW PFC stage operating at 250 kHz there will be an improvement of 0.4 percent in the overall efficiency under 20 percent load conditions. Higher switching frequencies allow the use of smaller and lower cost passive components, such as inductors and capacitors, resulting in higher power density designs. Reduced power losses result in several benefits, including reduced cooling requirements in terms of size and number of heatsinks and fans, which enables system cost reduction and increased reliability levels. This also contributes to reduced system level energy requirements to provide an appropriate cooling environment. Infineon expects system cost reductions in some SMPS applications of up to 20 percent.

"Infineon was the world's first provider of SiC Schottky diodes, introducing its first products in 2001. During the last eight years, Infineon has made a number of significant improvements to its SiC Schottky diode technology in areas such as surge current stability, switching performance and in product cost, extending the benefits of SiC technology to more applications and making solutions more affordable than ever," said Andreas Urschitz, vice president and general manager, Power Semiconductor Discretes, at Infineon Technologies. "SiC is a truly innovative technology which helps to support the global climate saving trend and to drive new markets such as solar energy and high-efficiency lighting systems. It clearly underlines Infineon's leadership in and commitment to the power management market."

ThinQ! SiC Schottky diodes are available in 600 Volts (3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 12 A, in both TO-220 and DPAK packages, and in 1200 V products (2, 5, 8, 10 and 15 A) in TO-220 package. Sampling started in January 2009, with series production scheduled in early spring 2009. In quantities of 10,000 pieces, third generation SiC Schottky diodes with a blocking voltage of 600 Volts (3 A) are priced at Euro 0.61 (US $ 0.85 ) per unit. The 4 A version is priced at Euro 0.85 (US $ 1.19) per unit, the 8 A version at Euro 1.89 (US $ 2.65) per unit.