An Enhanced Characterization Method of SiC MOSFETs in the High-Voltage Saturation Region With Reduced Self-Heating
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Accurate device modeling, short-circuit (SC) prediction, and protection for SiC MOSFETs require accurate measurement of their saturation characteristics under high drain-source voltages. However, conventional curve tracers are limited by power constraints, parasitic elements, and especially the device's intrinsic turn-on time, which together constrain$di/dt$. This makes it difficult to characterize behavior in high-voltage, high-current regions, since the long duration required to reach steady state can cause significant self-heating, reducing accuracy or even damaging the device. This letter proposes a test topology using multiple parallel devices as auxiliary switches to control the measurement and accelerate the turn-on transient while keeping the device under test normally on. To accurately measure the internal gate voltage during an ultra-narrow pulse, we propose a high-impedance gate drive circuit, eliminating the influence of the voltage drop across the device's intrinsic gate resistance. The measured results capture the full range of transfer and output characteristics of the SiC MOSFET and show good agreement with curve tracer data in the low-voltage region. At$V_{\text{ds}} = 20 \,\mathrm{V}$and$V_{\text{gs}} = 20 \,\mathrm{V}$under room temperature, the proposed method limits the temperature rise to within$4 \,{{\mathrm{^{\circ }}{\mathrm{C}}}}$, compared to nearly$100 \,{{{^{\circ }}{\mathrm{C}}}}$with a power device analyzer, thereby enabling more accurate device characterization and modeling.
Authors: Enyao Xiang, Chengmin Li, Dongsheng Yang
Institution: Eindhoven University of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4414499189