Recently, Japanese power semiconductor manufacturer ROHM announced the development of a SiC power module rated at 1700V / 250A, which provides the highest level of reliability in the industry and optimizes inverters and converters for outdoor power generation systems and industrial high power sources.

Product meaning

In recent years, SiC has been increasingly used in 1200V applications such as electric vehicles (EV) and industrial equipment due to its energy-saving advantages. The trend towards higher power densities leads to higher system voltages, increasing the demand for the 1700V product. However, the required reliability is difficult to achieve with current devices, so silicon-based insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) are generally preferred for 1700V applications.

To this end, ROHM was able to achieve high reliability at 1700V while maintaining the energy saving performance of its 1200V SiC products, achieving the first commercialization of the so-called 1700V class SiC power module.

Product performance

The new BSM250D17P2E004 product introduces a new packaging method and coating material to protect the chip from dielectric breakdown and inhibit the increase of leakage current, enabling the module to pass the hv-h3trb reliability test. For example, in the high pressure, high temperature, high humidity, reverse bias during the test, when applied at 85 ° C and 85% humidity more than 1000 hours, 1360 v device without failure, different from traditional IGBT module, usually within 1000 hours for the dielectric breakdown and cause failure. To ensure the highest level of reliability, ROHM tested the module's leakage current at different intervals, with a maximum blocking voltage of 1700V.

Integrating ROHM's certified SiC metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (mosFET) and SiC schottky barrier diode (SBD) into the same module and optimizing its internal structure can make its on-resistance 10% lower than other SiC products of the same grade. ROHM says this can lead to better energy savings and reduced heat dissipation in any application.

The future work

Looking ahead, ROHM's goal is to continue to expand its product lineup while providing an evaluation board to easily test and validate its SiC modules.