Zero Recovery™ 1200 V silicon carbide (SiC) Schottky rectifiers from Cree Inc. consist of a 5 A Schottky diode in a TO-220 package and a 10 A Schottky diode in a TO-247 package. They are targeted for applications such as the anti-parallel diode for high-frequency inverters, snubber diodes for high-current IGBT inverters, the boost diode for 480 V input Power Factor Correction (PFC), and high-voltage multipliers.
The initial testing of SiC Schottky diodes as the anti-parallel diode in a 5 hp motor drive shows a reduction in turn-on losses in the Si IGBT of 45% to 75%. At the same time, the losses in the diode are reduced by up to 85%. The reduction of these losses should save energy and increase the performance of electrical variable speed motors typically used in light industrial automation or HVAC units.
Additional benefits include zero reverse recovery, zero forward recovery, high-frequency operation, temperature-independent switching behavior, extremely fast switching, and positive temperature coefficient on VF.
For more information, visit www.cree.com.
