3rd generation silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs with reduced switching losses

Toshiba has launched the TWxxxZxxxC series of 10 silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs based upon their third-generation technology. They are intended to reduce losses in a wide variety of industrial applications including switching power supplies for servers and data centres, electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, photovoltaic (PV) inverters and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS).

Devices in the TWxxxZxxxC series are the first Toshiba SiC products to be housed in a TO-247-4L(X) package with a fourth pin. This allows the provision of a Kelvin connection of the signal source terminal for the gate drive, thereby reducing the parasitic inductance effects of the internal source wire and improving high-speed switching performance. Comparing the TW045Z120C with Toshiba’s existing TW045N120C (3-pin TO-247) shows an improvement in turn-on loss of approximately 40% while the turn-off loss is improved by around 34%.

The new TWxxxZxxxC series includes five devices with a drain-source (VDSS) rating of 650V and a further five devices rated at 1200V for higher voltage applications. The typical drain-source on-resistance (RDS(ON)) is ranging between 140mΩ and 15mΩ. Combined with low gate drain charge (QGD) values, it will enable low losses even in high-frequency applications.

The devices are capable of delivering continuous drain currents (ID) of up to 100A.