Simulation of parasitic effects on silicon carbide devices for automotive electric traction

Abstract

Wide Band Gap (WBG) semiconductors are increasingly addressed towards Electric Vehicle (EV) applications, due to their significant advantages in terms of high-voltage and low-losses performances, suitable for high power applications. Nevertheless, the packaging in WBG devices represents a challenge for designers due to the notable impact that inductive and capacitive parasitic components can bring in high switching frequency regime in terms of noise and power losses. In this paper, a comparison between conventional Silicon (Si) and emerging Silicon-Carbide (SiC) power switching devices is presented. The effects of inductive parasitic effects and switching frequency are investigated in simulation on a typical switching circuit and power losses are compared as well. Experimental results concerning a SiC-based circuit are shown and investigated in a preliminary printed circuit board (PCB).