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Abstract: There are several reasons behind silicon’s dominance of the power electronics market. Silicon is renowned for its excellent starting material quality, ease of processing, opportunity for low-cost mass production, proven reliability, and circuit design legacy. However, despite significant progress, silicon devices are now approaching their operational limits. They are held back by their relatively low bandgap and low critical electric field, traits that result in high conduction and switching losses and substandard high-temperature performance. To address these shortcomings, much effort has been directed at increasing the competitiveness of commercial SiC power devices. Transistors and diodes made with SiC have superior material properties, enabling the production of highly efficient power devices with a smaller form factor and simplified cooling management. In this presentation, the favorable material properties of Silicon Carbide (SiC), which allow for highly efficient power devices with reduced form-factor and cooling requirements, will be summarized. The co-existence of Si, SiC, and GaN will be discussed, and their respective competitive application advantages highlighted. Device fabrication aspects will be presented with an emphasis on the processes that do not carry over from the mature Si manufacturing world and are thus specific to SiC. The fab models of the vibrant SiC manufacturing infrastructure, which mirrors that of Si, will be introduced. Barriers to SiC mass commercialization will be identified and analyzed. These include the higher than silicon device cost that increases disproportionately with area, defects that limit yields and device area (wafer test maps will elucidate the correlation), reliability and ruggedness concerns, and the need for a trained workforce to skillfully insert SiC into power electronics circuits. The case of system-level price parity between Si and SiC will be made, achieved primarily through the reduced mass and volume of passive components, and the simplified thermal management. Finally, the efforts of the $214M PowerAmerica consortium to catalyze WBG adoption will be briefly outlined.
Bio: Prof. Veliadis is Executive Director & CTO of PowerAmerica, a member-driven Manufacturing USA Institute of industry, universities, and National Labs accelerating the commercialization of energy efficient silicon carbide and gallium nitride power semiconductor chips and electronics. At PowerAmerica he has managed a budget of US$156 million, which he allocated to 212 industrial/University projects, and is now managing a US$64M renewal. His educational activities have trained 410 University students and engaged over 7000 attendees. Victor is an ECE Professor at NC State University, an IEEE Fellow, a National Academy of Inventors Fellow, and an IEEE EDS Distinguished Lecturer. He has 27 issued U.S. patents, 13 book chapters, and 165 peer-reviewed publications to his credit. Prior to his 2016 PowerAmerica appointment, he spent 21 years in various semiconductor industry roles including managing a commercial semiconductor fab. He received military training in the Army Infantry and is a third-degree black belt in Shotokan karate. He earned a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from John Hopkins University (1995).