The power industry is ever being challenged to provide higher power density and efficiency while lowering costs of the power supply. Industry initiatives and global regulations are the impetus to this effort with such initiatives as Energy Star, EU Stand-by initiative, 80 Plus Platinum, and the Little Box Challenge.
Silicon carbide (SiC) has a breakdown voltage of 300 kV/mmB, 10 times greater than silicon. The thermal conductivity of SiC is about three times better than that of silicon as well—SiC devices enable operation at temperatures above 175°C. Packages designed for silicon aren’t adequate for SiC devices, thus they have their own unique packaging.