Silisiumkarbid og kraftelektronikk

Silicon carbide, an extremely hard synthetic compound of silicon and carbon, has long been utilized as an industrial abrasive, such as in sandpaper or grinding wheels, as well as wear resistant components in pump bearings or industrial furnaces. It can also provide excellent refractory linings.

Silicon carbide outshines its silicon counterpart in terms of heat resistance and durability, offering greater thermal conductivity and thermal conduction properties.

Power electronics

Silicon carbide has become an increasingly popular material for power electronics applications. It can withstand higher voltage levels and temperatures than traditional silicon devices, which enhances performance and reliability while simultaneously decreasing energy consumption. Furthermore, its properties make it suitable for many different applications.

Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers require components capable of withstanding high temperatures and voltages, such as off-board battery chargers, DC-DC converters and hybrid electric vehicles. Silicon carbide offers advantages over silicon semiconductors in terms of higher efficiency, lower power loss and greater reliability while being smaller and cost-effective alternative.

SiC transistors also feature wider band gaps than their silicon counterparts, which helps minimize heat losses and boost efficiency. This allows them to perform similar functions while using less electricity for wasted purposes – something EV drivers will appreciate given how this can extend range while decreasing battery costs by speeding up charging times.

Bilindustrien

Silicon carbide chips offer numerous advantages for the electric vehicle industry. They can reduce losses in voltage and current while improving thermal efficiency – helping automakers reduce size and weight of key power electronics components that contribute to driving distance, helping EVs go farther on each charge. Automotive firms have taken to adopting this technology with ROHM Semiconductors jumping on board to offer isolation solutions designed specifically for use with silicon carbide designs in battery management systems and traction control inverters designed with silicon carbide materials.

Automakers recognize that wide-bandgap semiconductors will play an essential part in future battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), so they have invested billions to secure supplies of SiC chips for battery-powered cars. German supplier ZF Group and Wolfspeed are currently cooperating on creating a production facility specifically for SiC chips; Bosch, the world’s leading parts maker, bought TSI Semiconductors of Roseville, Calif. in 2023 with plans to convert its production facility from application-specific integrated circuits on 200mm silicon wafers into producing SiC MOSFETs by 2026.

Other chipmakers are increasing investment in silicon carbide technologies as well. Rohm Semiconductors is one such chipmaker stepping up investment. Rohm offers products which support silicon carbide-based power designs such as MOSFETs; isolated power transistors; modules; battery management systems and traction control inverters to name just a few applications where its products offer substantial cost and performance advantages; they are particularly focused on high voltage applications where its products offer significant cost/performance gains.

Rail transit

Silicon carbide chips in rail transit applications can increase efficiency and power density of power devices, decreasing weight and volume while at the same time helping lower operations and maintenance costs. They’re particularly well suited for applications involving traction converters which must withstand high temperatures; so silicon carbide chips make an ideal solution here, with these versatile chips made of silicon-carbon mixes capable of operating up to 500C – perfect for solar energy or rail transit!

Silicon carbide semiconductors boast a wider band-gap, which enables them to operate at higher frequencies and voltages than their silicon counterparts, thus providing more power with reduced loss and having a lower saturation drift rate than standard silicon chips.

As demand for electric vehicles rises, so too do demands for high-performance components. This includes increasing motor performance to meet acceleration capabilities – often known as “Ludicrous Mode.” To do this, more powerful capacitors and robust electrical cabling may be required to meet this need.

Silicon carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) are now becoming widely available and suitable for traction inverters, providing reduced switching losses and conduction losses, leading to lower overall system power losses – and thus substantially lowering operating electricity costs.

Industrial applications

Silicon carbide has emerged as a promising semiconductor material in high-power applications, particularly electric vehicle power electronics and space exploration rover instruments (Mantooth, Zetterling & Rusu). Silicon carbide offers higher bandgap than traditional silicon semiconductors and operates at much higher temperatures, voltages and frequencies; making it an attractive alternative to silicon. It can operate under higher temperatures, voltages and frequencies than traditional silicon semiconductors (which have lower bandgap). Silicon carbide’s performance also makes it attractive alternative in demanding applications such as power electronics for electric vehicle power electronics or instruments used on space exploration (Mantooth Zetterling & Rusu).

Silicon carbide first found industrial use as light-emitting diodes and detectors in early radios, both requiring high operating temperature and voltage levels. MOSFETs made with silicon carbide were first commercially available during the 1970s and 1980s, featuring an interlocked structure consisting of p-type semiconductors sandwiched by oxide-insulating layers with gate electrodes placed between. Due to its low resistance characteristics, silicon carbide chips allowed current to flow at higher temperatures with reduced power losses.

Silicon carbide power devices are revolutionizing how EVs are powered, as they withstand higher heat output, last longer and are more energy-efficient than semiconductors made from silicon power transistors. Therefore, many EV manufacturers are opting for silicon carbide devices in order to reduce cost and weight in vehicles.

Wolfspeed’s base SiC wafers and semiconductor solutions give power systems designers all they need to upgrade any power supply system to silicon carbide technology, saving 40% on cooling energy costs alone by installing Wolfspeed SiC power transistors into servers.