Silicon Carbide Power Devices: A 35 Year Journey from Conception to Commercialization

A relationship between the basic properties of semiconductor materials and the performance of unipolar power devices was first published in 1982 [1]. This theory produced the Baliga's Figure-of-Merit (BFOM) which allows determination of which semiconductors can be used to reduce the specific on-resistance in power devices. Accurate measurements of the impact ionization coefficients for SiC [2] determined a BFOM to more than 1000 for 4H-SiC. This encouraged the development of practical SiC devices during the 1990s culminating in the announcement of commercial devices by 2003. Today, high voltage JBS rectifiers and power MOSFETs have become commercially available from multiple sources. This paper reviews the history of development of SiC power devices, their potential applications, and the social impact.