Temperature Dependent Transient Threshold Voltage Hysteresis in SiC Power MOSFETs and Implications for Short Circuit Events

The performance of 1.2kV SiC power MOSFETs is still hampered by the naturally imperfect SiC/SiO
2
MOS-interface. The correlated high density of interface traps results in threshold voltage (VTH) shifts and VTH-instabilities that must be carefully taken into consideration when designing SiC-based power electronics systems. The temperature dependent transient and threshold voltage hysteresis of commercially available 1.2 kV SiC MOSFETs from different manufacturers and technologies (planar, trench), are investigated in this contribution, together with their potential implications on the value of the drain current at the beginning of a short circuit event.