Accelerating Commercialization of SiC Power Electronics

Silicon (Si) power devices have dominated power electronics due to their excellent starting material quality, ease of processing, low-cost mass production, and proven reliability. Although Si power devices continue to make significant progress, they are approaching their operational limits, primarily because of their relatively low bandgap and critical electric field, which result in high conduction and switching losses and in poor high-temperature performance. Silicon carbide (SiC) power devices are revolutionizing power electronics because of their favorable material properties, which allow for highly efficient power systems with reduced form factor and cooling requirements. Several initiatives around the world promote the adoption of SiC power electronics to exploit their energy saving and technological innovation promise. In the United States, the development of SiC crystal growth, wafer fabrication, and device processing technologies owe their beginnings to the support from a number of U.S. government programs. Initially, this work focused on proof-of-concept critical enabling technologies such as high-quality substrates, epitaxy, and unit process steps like ion-implantation, implant activation, gate oxidation, and so on. More recently, the Advanced Manufacturing Office of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and North Carolina State University formed PowerAmerica, a Manufacturing USA Institute. PowerAmerica focuses on enabling cost-effective large-scale production of wide-bandgap (WBG) devices and power electronics with the goal of increasing energy efficiency across multiple application platforms. PowerAmerica started operations in 2015 with a five-year budget of US$150 million and a mission of addressing manufacturing gaps in WBG power technology to enable high-tech job creation, technological innovation, and energy savings.