Date of Award
4-4-2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Systems Engineering
First Advisor
Jing Zhang
Abstract
This research presents the design and experiments of a SiC power MOSFET-based bidirectional switching power pole (BSPP) by benefiting from the advantages of SiC power MOSFETs: high-speed switching, high power density, high operating temperatures, and low power losses. The main goal of this research is to design a printed circuit board (PCB) prototype with a minimum parasitic inductance to improve the switching transient performance of the SiC MOSFETs for the BSPP application. The effects of the parasitic inductance of the PCB power traces were investigated, for the BSPP application, based on the experimental, simulation, and theoretical analyses. The PCB prototypes were designed by using the broad coupled traces method to reduce the parasitic inductance of the PCB power traces. A minimum parasitic inductance, and symmetrical switching transient performance for both the high-side and low-side power MOSFETs were achieved for the BSPP application. Two typical SiC power MOSFETs developed by the manufacturers (Rohm and Cree) were chosen for evaluation in the experiment and simulation. A standard Double Pulse Test (DPT) was used to measure the switching transient performance under a certain temperature. A Digital Signal Processing unit is used to generate the gate driving control signals for the DPT. The research included an observation of the effects of the SiC Schottky Barrier Diode (SiC SBD) on the switching transient performance of the SiC MOSFETs. The experimental and simulation results showed that there is no need to use SiC SBDs in anti-parallel connection with the SiC MOSFETs for the BSPP application. Some of the gate driving parameters were observed to improve the switching transient performance of the SiC MOSFETs for the BSPP application. The effects of the external gate resistance and gate-source voltage bias on the switching transients were investigated. A simulation model of the BSPP circuit was built by using Cadence simulation tools. The simulation and experimental results were compared to verify the model parameters and the calculated parasitic inductance of the PCB power traces.
Recommended Citation
Subhii, Hussain Khthear Sayed, "Design and Experiments of a SiC Power Mosfet-Based Bidirectional Switching Power Pole (BSPP)" (2017). Theses and Dissertations. 725.
https://research.ualr.edu/etd/725
