Impact of Power Module Parasitic Capacitances on Medium Voltage SiC MOSFETs Switching Transients

Increased switching speeds of wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors result in a significant magnitude of the displacement currents through power module parasitic capacitances that are inherent in packaging design. This is of increasing concern, particularly in case of newly emerging medium-voltage (MV) SiC MOSFETs since the magnitude of the displacement currents can be several order higher due to the fast switching transients and increased voltage magnitudes of the SiC MOSFETs compared to their Si counter parts. The severity intensifies when the magnitude of the displacement current becomes comparable to a significant fraction of SiC MOSFETs rated current, leading to the worsened impact on the converter electromagnetic interference (EMI) as well as performance in terms of switching losses. The key objective of this article is to provide a detail insight into the impact of the module parasitic capacitances on the SiC MOSFET switching dynamics and losses. To realize this, a well-defined approach to dissect the switching energy dissipation is proposed, based on which the detailed analysis and quantitative measurements of the module parasitic capacitance impact on terms of added switching energy losses, and common-mode currents are investigated using a custom-packaged 10-kV half-bridge SiC MOSFET power modules. The theoretical analysis and experimental results obtained from dynamic as well as static characterization reveal that the impact of the module parasitic capacitance on the switching energy dissipation is twofold and substantially adverse such that it cannot be overlooked considering its intended application in the high-power MV power electronic converters.