The Revolution in Wide Band Gap (WBG)

60 Pages·2017·6.2 MB·English

by  Anant Agarwal

The Revolution in Wide Band
Gap (WBG) Power Devices
Anant Agarwal
Feb. 8, 2017
Purdue University
Outline
1. About Myself
2. Why Wide Band Gap Semiconductors for Power Switching
3. A Short History of the Development over the Past 25 Years
4. My Initiatives at US Department of Energy
5. A Look at the Future - >50% Renewables on the Grid
6. Research and Funding Opportunities
7. My Research Focus and Teaching Philosophy
Last 25 years have been very exciting and now WBG Semiconductor
Technology is here to stay. The next 25 years will be even more
exciting as the WBG devices are adopted in power electronic
applications and 10-40 kV devices emerge for the transformation of
the grid.
2
About Myself
3
My Past Work
1978-80, UT Space Institute, Tn – Masters in EE
Modeling and Control of Magneto-Hydro-Dynamic (MHD)
-
Generators

1980-84, Lehigh University Pa – Ph.D. in EE
Si SONOS Non-volatile Memory Transistors
-

1984-85 Bell Labs, Murray Hill, NJ – Member of Technical Staff
GaAs E/D digital circuits for 10 GHz Optical Communication
-

1985-1990, MNR Engineering College, India – Associate Professor
One PhD student worked on Si Thyristor based Cyclo-converters
-
Taught undergraduate courses on circuits, devices, digital signal
-
processing, electromagnetics

4
1990-99, Westinghouse, Pa – Senior Engineer, Advisory Engineer
Si RF NMOS Transitors on Float Zone SIMOX for 10 GHz Switching
-
SiGe RF BJTS for 10 GHz Power Amplifiers
-
SiC 600 V, RF Static Induction Transistors for 400-2000 Hz Power
-
Amplifiers for Radars (Deployed in systems today).
SiC 600 V UMOSFET power device
-
SiC 600 V DMOSFET power device
-

1999-2013, Cree, Inc., NC – Senior Scientist, R&D Manager
Raised $100 M+ funds to commercialize and develop:
SiC Schottky Diodes (1-10 kV, 1-6 Generations)
-
SiC Power MOSFETs (1-15 kV, 1-3 Generations)
-
SiC Power UMOSFETs (1200 V)
-
SiC Power and RF BJTs (600-1200 V)
-
SiC Gate Turn-off Thyristors (up to 20 kV)
-
SiC IGBTs (up to 20 kV)
-
5
March 2008 – March 2013: North Carolina State University
Adjunct Professor (unpaid), ECE Department
Mentored Graduate students in the area of wide band gap power
-
electronics and being a member of their advisory committee.
Shared teaching of the Graduate level Si MOS course for 1
-
semester.
Helped a number of faculty members with the proposals and
-
teaming arrangements.
Helped the scientists at Cree to collaborate with NCSU faculty on
-
technical problems of mutual interest.

6
March, 2013- Nov., 2016, Senior Advisor, Wide Band Gap Initiative
at US Department of Energy, Washington DC
Directed the $70 M Power Electronics Manufacturing Initiative,
-
PowerAmerica
Created the $25 M Next Generation of Electric Machines-I
-
(NGEM-I) Program
Created the $25 M Next Generation of Electric Machines-II
-
(NGEM-II) Program
Created the $6 M Graduate Traineeship Program for Wide Band
-
Gap Power Electronics

Nov. 2016 - Present, Consultant in Wide Band Gap Technology
Working with CAPT. Lynn Petersen at ONR to support the basic
-
research in bulk GaN based power devices
7
Why Wide Band Gap Semiconductors
for Power Switching

8
What is the Power Device?
Electronic devices in power control circuits that are used
to convert or control electric power flow
Gate Gate
Anode Cathode
Source Drain Source Drain
Switches: MOSFET, IGBT Diodes: Schottky, PiN
I
Operation modes
Abnormal-state
(MOSFET)
transient-state
On-state
V
Off-state
Requirements Voltage supporting capability (Breakdown voltage)
Low on-resistance, Fast switching 9
Courtesy of Prof. Woongje Sung
Basic Material Properties
Property Silicon 4H-SiC GaN
E (eV) 1.12 3.26 3.4
G
µ (cm2/Vs) 1400 1000 1200
N
E (MV/cm) ~ 0.4 ~ 2.8 ~ 3.0
C
Thermal Cond. (W/cm K) 1.3 3.3 1.3
7x of E (Si)
C
10