SiC enabled MV Power Conversion Systems and HV SiC power device design and fabrication

Abstract: The tutorial will outline the applications of High power/voltage power converters in all industry sectors – Solid State Transformer, HVDC, FACTS and power quality, MV motor drives (including high-speed machines with high fundamental frequency), MV DC grids, MV grid connected converters for renewables such as solar, wind, etc., MV converters for mining applications, MV converters for traction applications, MV converters for industrial applications such as steel mills, cement, and others; with present OEM solutions. The improvements required in efficiency, power density, specific power and volumetric density metrics are forcing the industry to re-evaluate present state of the art Silicon power devices based solutions in terms of the potential offered by recently developed HV SiC power devices for HV and high power (MW class) power converters. The opportunities for HV SiC devices for MV and high power converters and utility applications and the challenges to apply these HV SiC devices successfully will be presented in-depth with SiC device voltage ranges from 1200V to 3300V MOSFETs, and HV 10 kV – 15 kV MOSFETs, JBS diodes, and 15 kV SiC IGBTs. The potential and challenges of the HV 10-15 kV devices to enable MV power conversion systems, including MV motor drives, FACTS and MVDC grids will be explored with demonstrated application examples of SST (Solid State Transformer), MV SiC power converters for grid tied solar applications, MV motor drives, shipboard power supply applications and
MV DC grids. The roadmap of HV SiC power devices in terms of cost targets, module packaging, reliability qualification and standards compliance of HV SiC devices will be addressed. Challenges in adopting these HV SiC devices for MV power conversion in terms of magnetics, capacitors, and insulation materials will be discussed.
The tutorial will also outline the advantages of SiC over other power electronic materials, and will introduce HV SiC devic being developed for power electronic applications. ESD, high-voltage testing, and packaging aspects will be covered. The design and properties of SiC JFETs, MOSFETs, BJTs, IGBTs, Thyristors, and Junction Barrier Schottky and PiN diodes will be discussed, with an emphasis on their performance advantages over those of their Si counterparts. Common SiC Edge Termination techniques, which allow SiC devices to exploit their full high-voltage potential, will be rigorously treated and their impact on device performance will be highlighted. Aspects of device fabrication will be taught with an emphasis on the processes that do not carry over from the mature Si manufacturing world and are thus tailored to SiC. In particular, the tutorial will stress in-depth the design and fabrication of SiC MOSFETs, which are being inserted in the majority of SiC based power electronic circuits. Device reliability will be reported through exemplary hard switching and unclamped inductive load results.

Subhashish Bhattacharya received the B.E. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India, the M.E. degree from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA, in 2003, all in electrical engineering. He was with the FACTS and Power Quality Division, Westinghouse/Siemens Power T&D, during 1998-2005. In August 2005, he joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, NC State University, Raleigh, NC, USA, where he is currently the Duke Energy Distinguished Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and also a founding faculty member of NSF FREEDM Systems Center and DOE PowerAmerica Institute. A part of his Ph.D. research on active power filters was commercialized by York Corporation for air-conditioner chillers. His research interests include solid-state transformers, MV power converters, FACTS, utility applications, high-frequency magnetics, and power conversion applications of SiC devices. He has authored or co-
authored 400 peer-reviewed technical articles, 3 book chapters, and has 5 issued patents to his credit.

Victor Veliadis received the five year diploma degree from the National Technical University of Athens Greece in 1990, and the Masters and Ph.D. degrees from Johns Hopkins University in 1992 and 1995, respectively, all in Electrical and Computer Engineering. From 1996 to 2000, he was with start-up Nanocrystals Imaging Corporation where he developed quantum-dot phosphors for imaging applications. From 2000 to 2003, he was with Lucent Technologies where he designed InP-based tunable photonic integrated circuits for telecommunication applications. In 2003, Victor was Adjunct Physics Professor at Ursinus College and St. Joseph’s University. After a brief military service, Victor joined Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems in 2004 where he designed, fabricated, and tested SiC JFETs, MOSFETs, Thyristors, and JBS, Schottky, and PiN diodes in the 1-12 kV range. In 2016 Victor was appointed CTO and interim Deputy Director of Power America, which is a U.S Department of Energy wide bandgap device Manufacturing Institute managed by North Carolina State University (NCSU). At the time, Victor also became Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at NCSU. Victor has authored or co-authored 105 peer-reviewed technical articles, 3 book chapters, and has 24 issued patents to his credit.