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

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是加快碳化硅功率半导体在节能电力电子产品中的应用。这项第一阶段提案中开发的技术将建造一种智能、低成本、高性能的碳化硅电源开关。拟议的技术有可能将能源效率提高高达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的适配器。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，当它与新型拓扑结构中的硅金属氧化物半导体场效应晶体管相结合时，将创造一种创新的宽带隙开关。与现有的碳化硅解决方案相比，建议的器件创新将使芯片尺寸缩小50%，具有类似或更好的开关损耗，并有可能在大批量生产中实现与硅技术的成本平价。此外，所提出的开关具有良好的栅极可靠性，不需要严格控制栅极或漏极过冲。通过将先进硅技术的力量与碳化硅相结合，拟议的研究提供了一个机会，以实现高功率密度和高效率的真正智能电源开关平台。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.