A Designer’s Guide to Silicon Carbide Power

A Designer’s Guide to Silicon Carbide Power

February 21, 2021

Silicon Carbide

As silicon carbide has matured as a technology and been adopted in countless power conversion designs, questions still arise relative to maximizing its performance. This white paper offers answers to common questions associated to SiC design considerations, such as:

  • Why does SiC add so much value to systems?
  • Is SiC as reliable as silicon? Are they tested the same way?
  • How do I ruggedize the design for thermals, EMI, and short circuit protection?
  • How do I select gate drivers for optimum power conversion and control?
  • Why is the switching frequency limited to 65 kHz in your totem-pole reference design even using SiC compared to Si?
  • How do I optimize the system for improved efficiencies, max power density and lowest system cost?
  • How do I choose the right SiC MOSFET? Are the datasheets/parameters and models the same as silicon?
  • What is the maximum temperature I can run a SiC MOSFET at without having reliability concerns?
  • How can I calculate conduction losses over temperature?
  • How do I optimize for switching frequency?


This paper addresses the current SiC landscape and advantages, designing with losses, switching frequency, the effects and considerations of inductances, gate driving, noise, and applications enabled by SiC.

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