SBIR Phase I: Development of a low-cost Silicon Carbide Power Switch Technology

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是加速采用碳化硅功率半导体用于节能电力电子产品。在第一阶段提案中开发的技术将构建智能，低成本，高性能的碳化硅功率开关。所提出的技术可以将能源效率提高10%，并将电力电子能耗降低5倍，适用于工业电源、电机驱动、太阳能逆变器、电池充电器、消费电子产品和电动汽车适配器等广泛应用。此外，该技术还可以在电动飞机、太空飞行和量子计算等未来应用中实现高效的电力输送。这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将展示一种新型的四端碳化硅场效应晶体管，当与新型拓扑结构中的硅金属氧化物半导体场效应晶体管结合时，将创造出一种创新的宽带隙开关。与现有碳化硅解决方案相比，拟议的器件创新将使模具尺寸缩小50%，具有相似或更好的开关损耗，并且有可能在大批量生产中实现与硅技术同等的成本。此外，所提出的开关具有优异的栅极可靠性，无需对栅极或漏极超调进行严格控制。通过将先进硅技术的力量与碳化硅相结合，提出的研究提供了一个机会，使一个真正的智能功率开关平台具有高功率密度和高效率。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to accelerate the adoption of silicon carbide power semiconductors for energy efficient power electronics. The technology developed in this Phase I proposal will build an intelligent, low-cost, high-performance, silicon carbide power switch. The proposed technology can potentially increase energy efficiency by up to 10% and reduce power electronic energy dissipation by 5X for a wide range of applications, including industrial power supplies, motor drives, solar inverters, battery chargers, adapters for consumer electronics and in electric vehicles. In addition, the proposed technology is also an enabler for efficient power delivery in future applications such as electric aircraft, space flight and quantum computing.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will demonstrate a novel four-terminal silicon carbide field-effect transistor that, when combined with a silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor in a novel topology, will create an innovative wide-bandgap switch. The proposed device innovations will allow 50% die-size reduction compared to existing silicon carbide solutions, with similar or better switching losses, and with the potential to achieve cost parity with silicon technology in high-volume production. Moreover, the proposed switch has excellent gate reliability without the need for tight controls on the gate or drain overshoot. By combining the power of advanced silicon technology with silicon carbide the proposed research presents an opportunity to enable a truly intelligent power-switching platform with high power density and high efficiency.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.