New Industry Products

IXYS Releases MOSFET Solution with Silicon Carbide Technology in Isolated Integrated Package

August 23, 2010 by Jeff Shepard

IXYS Corp. announced the successful integration of Silicon Carbide (SiC) technology and the latest super junction MOSFET technology into a single user friendly package enabling increased power density and higher efficiency in fast switching power supplies and solar inverter applications.

"Currently the system designers in high frequency, high efficiency applications are forced to consider using separate discrete devices, often from different suppliers complicating mechanical layouts and time to market. The MKE range of products released by IXYS effectively integrates these technologies into one part thereby reducing parasitic inductance and its associated losses," stated Bradley Green, VP of International Sales for IXYS. "Our patented ISOPLUS i4™ package, with its proven ruggedness based on the internal DCB construction, enables the co-location of the MOSFET and SiC diode thus also reducing real estate requirements in power switching topologies that are getting far more focused on not only reducing power losses but also challenging the traditional restraints on power supply size. It has better thermal impedance with lower weight than alternative solutions that use a heavier copper lead frame and bulky modules."

The first product in the MKE range of devices is an ultrafast boost chopper which integrates a super junction COOLMOS® CP MOSFET and a SiC boost diode integrated in the IXYS ISOPLUS i4™ package.

The ISOPLUS™ technology gives the designer a discrete package with ceramic, Direct Copper Bonded (DCB) isolation. This isolation has low thermal impedance and a higher reliability in power cycling than standard copper based solutions and non-isolated products.

An example of this technology is the MKE11R600DCGFC which integrates a 600V, COOLMOS® MOSFET and a 12A 600V SiC diode in boost chopper circuit topology which is a common combination for Power Factor Correction (PFC) stages in high switching applications.

Because of the absence of minority carrier injection of SiC there is no reverse recovery of the boosting diode. This provides the highest efficiency with very low switching losses. The use of ISOPLUS™ packaging allows a mounting of MOSFET and boost diode very close together thereby minimizing stray inductance. Layout is designed to be user friendly as the gate and source connections are located side by side and are easily accessible.

The combination of the COOLMOS MOSFET and SiC diode within the ISOPLUS™ packaging creates a high power density, reliable design which facilitates a reduction in total system size and power loss.