SiC Technology: Challenges and Future Perspectives

Silicon carbide (SiC), a semiconductor material composed of silicon and carbon,

is used to manufacture power devices for high-voltage applications, such as
electric vehicles (EVs), power supplies, motor control circuits, and inverters.
Silicon carbide (SiC), a semiconductor material composed of silicon and
carbon, is used to manufacture power devices for high-voltage applications,
such as electric vehicles (EVs), power supplies, motor control circuits, and
inverters. SiC offers several advantages over conventional silicon-based
power devices, such as IGBTs and MOSFETs, which have long dominated the
market by virtue of their cost-effectiveness and simplicity of the manufacturing
process.
In power electronics applications, solid-state devices are required that can
operate at high switching frequencies while offering low on-resistance, low
switching losses, and excellent thermal management. In the electronics field,
designers face several tough challenges, with the aim of maximizing efficiency,
reducing size, increasing the reliability and durability of devices, and reducing
costs. Compared with traditional silicon-based technology, the use of wide-
bandgap (WBG) materials (such as SiC) enables higher switching speeds and
higher breakdown voltages, allowing for smaller, faster, more reliable, and
more efficient power devices
The challenges posed by the market mainly concern the demand for power
solutions suitable to meet the growing demand for vehicle electrification and
battery-charging systems. The automotive industry is certainly one of the sectors in
which the main efforts of SiC producers are being concentrated. Building next-
generation EVs will require a technology that meets the stringent requirements of
high efficiency and reliability, defect elimination, and cost reduction.

Fabrication challenges
Although the properties of SiC have been known for some time, the
production of the first SiC power devices is relatively recent, starting in the
early 2000s through the deployment of 100-mm wafers. A few years ago, most
manufacturers completed the transition to 150-mm wafers, while large-scale
production of 200-mm (8-inch) wafers will be operational in the next few
years.
The transition of SiC wafers from 4 to 6 inches was not without issues, related
to the difficulty of maintaining the same quality and the same yield. The main
challenge for the production of SiC involves the characteristics of the
material. Due to its hardness (almost diamond-like), SiC requires higher
temperatures, more energy, and more time for crystal growth and processing.
In addition, the most widely used crystalline structure (4H-SiC) is
characterized by high transparency and high refractive index, making
it difficult to inspect the material for surface defects that could potentially
affect epitaxial growth or final component yield.
The main defects that can occur during the manufacturing of SiC substrates
are crystalline stacking faults, micropipes, pits, scratches, stains, and surface
particles. These factors, potentially adversely affecting the performance of SiC
devices, have been detected more frequently on 150-mm wafers than on 100-
mm wafers. Because SiC is the third-hardest composite material in the world
and is also very fragile, its production poses complex challenges related to
cycle time, cost, and dicing performance.
It is safe to predict that even switching to 200-mm wafers will entail
significant issues. In fact, it will be necessary to guarantee the same quality of
the substrate, facing an inevitably higher density of defects.

SiC in EVs
One of the main applications of SiC devices is certainly automotive,
particularly the production of EVs and plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs). Next-
generation EVs require power devices capable of increasing the efficiency of the
vehicle (with a consequent increase in range) and the speed at which the batteries
can be recharged.
SiC inverters are proving to be a key solution to meet these requirements. In
addition to converting the input direct current to alternating current, the inverter
controls the level of power supplied to the motor according to driving needs. The
role of the inverter becomes even more crucial, with the progressive migration of
automotive electric buses from 400 V to 800 V. A traditional inverter
offers efficiency, in transferring energy from the battery to the motor, between
about 97% and 98%, while an inverter based on SiC can reach up to 99%
efficiency. It is important to underline how an increase in efficiency of one or two
decimal places brings very significant advantages for the entire vehicle.
SiC inverters are ideal for these types of applications because they withstand high
voltages and temperatures and allow for a reduction in the size of all other
components. By using batteries with a voltage of 800 V, the required current
decreases and smaller cables can be used, reducing costs and vehicle weight and
simplifying the assembly phase of the electrical system. On balance, this improves
both the range and the efficiency of the EV or PHEV. By using 800-V batteries,
the charging time can be drastically reduced (up to one-fifth, compared with the
time required by 400-V batteries) thanks to the use of high-power DC/DC
converters based on SiC. Their high efficiency makes it possible to maximize the
amount of energy transferred to the batteries during the charging, with negligible
power losses. Figure 3 shows some of the car domains where SiC power devices
can be effectively used, such as inverters, converters, and battery chargers.
Among the most challenging applications for SiC is certainly 5G mobile
technology, capable of reaching speeds 20× higher than the previous 4G LTE
technology. To operate faster, we need devices that are capable of handling higher
power density, have better thermal efficiency (avoiding dangerous hardware
system overheating), and are optimized for achieving high efficiency. These
ambitious performance goals are a perfect match for the strengths offered by SiC
devices, such as power MOSFETs and Schottky diodes, capable of operating at
voltages of several hundred volts and at temperatures higher than silicon can
tolerate.

Microgrid
The growing demand for energy and the increasingly widespread use of renewable
energy resources have allowed microgrids to play a fundamental role in the
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and in the reduction of energy derived from
fossil fuels. However, silicon-based solid-state inverters and switches are too bulky
and inefficient to be used in the microgrid system. WBG semiconductors such
as SiC, thanks to a higher breakdown voltage and switching frequency, are
proposing themselves as a fundamental component in the construction of efficient
and reliable microgrids.
The large amount of electronic equipment connected to the network generates a
substantial number of harmonics in energy-distribution systems, due to the non-
sinusoidal currents drawn from non-linear loads. One of the traditional techniques
to eliminate harmonic distortion in energy-distribution systems is based on the use
of appropriate active or passive filters. Power devices based on SiC, capable of
operating at particularly high switching voltages and frequencies, can
integrate the harmonic compensation function directly into the converter,
eliminating the need for dedicated filters, thus reducing size, complexity, and
cost of the design.
Questions:
1. Where do we use SiC? (1)
2. What makes it challenging for designers in Electronics (1)
3. How does SiC help in high switching voltages? (2)
4. Discuss the fabrication challenges in manufacturing the SiC. ( 4)