Continuous Over-Current Safe Operation Area of SiC MOSFET at Cryogenic and Room Temperatures

The over-current withstanding capability of silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET is crucial for short-circuit and over-load fault protections. This paper presents experimental investigations into continuous over-current safe operation area (SOA) of SiC MOSFET at cryogenic and room temperatures. Benefited by high cooling power from cryogenic liquid nitrogen at 77 K, cryogenic operation of SiC MOSFET results in more than 10 times of the over-current withstanding time at room temperature. In view of engineering applications, four over-current-dependent power functions are extracted to depict the operating behaviours of withstanding time and energy dissipation at 77 K and 300 K, respectively. These characterizations lay some empirical bases for exploring some over-current operating and protecting guidelines of high-reliability SiC-based power conversions.