Self-Sustained Turn-Off Oscillation of SiC MOSFETs: Origin, Instability Analysis, and Prevention

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive investigation on the self-sustained oscillation of silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs. At first, based on the double pulse switching test, it is identified that the self-sustained oscillation of SiC MOSFETs can be triggered by two distinct test conditions. To investigate the oscillatory criteria of the two types of self-sustained oscillation, a small-signal ac model is introduced to obtain the transfer function of the oscillatory system. The instability of the oscillation is thereby determined by the two conjugate pole pairs of the transfer function. By analyzing the damping ratios of the two pole pairs, the parametric sensitivity of various circuit and device’s parameters on the two types of self-sustained oscillation are obtained. The analyses reveal the oscillatory criteria of the self-sustained oscillation for SiC MOSFETs. Based on the oscillatory criteria, necessary methods are proposed to prevent the oscillation. The proposed oscillation suppression methods are validated by the experiment at the end of the paper.