SiC Schottky Rectifiers Increase Efficiency

Feb 14, 2007 2:36 PM

Cree is shipping production quantities of a 50-A Zero Recovery Schottky rectifier operating at 1200 V. The CPW2-1200S050 can significantly improve levels of efficiency in power inverters. This advance means that applications such as solar and wind power converters, industrial motor drives, and electric vehicles using these Cree devices can increase their operating efficiency beyond current levels.

Compared with traditional silicon-based diodes, Cree’s SiC-based Zero Recovery rectifiers can simplify PFC boost-stage design by eliminating the need for snubbers and reducing component count. They can also reduce power losses, leading to cooler operating temperatures, and produce significantly less electromagnetic interference (EMI).

The CPW2-1200S050 reaches high power levels because of significant SiC materials quality advancements achieved in the last year. It also features a die size of 8.2 mm x 4 mm. Fundamental to these advancements are very-low-defect-density substrates, including zero-micropipe SiC substrates.