Silicon IGBTs have been pervasive in high-voltage power electronics applications for decades; as such, the packages designed for these products have become largely standardized. However, these packages were not designed with fast switching devices like silicon carbide (SiC) in mind. In this talk, the sources of parasitic inductance in power packaging will be reviewed, and the harms these can cause when paired with SiC power devices will be described. A direct comparison will be shown of a SiC MOSFET half bridge in a standard package and an advanced package, directly illustrating the importance of SiC power packaging.
Dr. Kevin Speer is the technology director of Microchip Technology’s silicon carbide (SiC) business unit. He leads the technology development for Microchip’s SiC power solutions including device design, applications, advanced packaging and materials. Since 1999 Dr. Speer has published a range of SiC research spanning materials science to applications, including crystal growth, defect-related device degradation, SiC MOSFET and diode device design and processing, and advanced power packaging. Dr. Speer has held strategic technical marketing roles with SemiSouth Laboratories, Infineon, and Littelfuse. Prior to Microchip, Dr. Speer founded Speer Semiconductor, a business aimed at empowering stakeholders across the value chain through product development and road-mapping, customer outreach, strategy and investment diligence, and market analysis. Dr. Speer holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) from the University of Arkansas, a Master of Science in engineering from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from CWRU as a NASA Research Fellow.