OVERVIEW OF SIC POWER ELECTRONICS

This paper reviews the status of silicon carbide power electronics. Re sults on SiC high voltage rectifiers and thyristors are summarized. Cu rrent issues in silicon carbide power devices are discussed, including the small device area and high base region resistance of the devices. It is shown that micropipes are not the defects that limit SiC device area. It is some other defects which cause a premature breakdown. To overcome these problems, liquid phase epitaxial growth for high power SiC devices is proposed. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.