Designing Isolated Gate Drivers for SiC MOSFETs in Traction Inverters (Download)
Traction inverters based on silicon insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) have been the go-to technology for electric vehicles (EVs). However, to improve the power efficiency of EVs, these devices must be more efficient, too. One metric is to replace higher-power IGBTs with more efficient and higher-temperature operation of silicon-carbide metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (SiC MOSFETs). This change in design has a notable effect on both power savings and safety.
Traction inverters convert dc power from an on-board, high-voltage (HV) battery system into power for driving—in this case, the main motor, or motors, of an EV. However, there’s a catch. Compared to IGBTs, SiC MOSFETs have a totally different set of input characteristics.
