Turn-off energy minimization for soft-switching power converters with wide bandgap devices
Abstract
The advent of Silicon-Carbide and Gallium-Nitride MOSFETs offers potential to realize higher energy density power converters operating at increased switching frequencies. The maximum switching frequency in a power converter is limited by the ability of the switching device package to dissipate its switching and conduction losses. At a given value of drain-source voltage and current, the turn-on losses in a MOSFET are usually greater than the turn-off losses. This paper introduces a soft-switching technique for power converters using wide bandgap devices to replace the larger turn-on losses with smaller turn-off losses and thus reduce the power dissipation of the overall system. The turn-off losses are further reduced with use of additional capacitance across the MOSFET drain-source terminals. Results from an analytical model, LTSpice simulation and experimentation are shown to match closely, with a significant reduction in overall system losses.
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SiC devices are not affected by minority-carrier storage, facilitating rapid switching and further loss reduction as temperature decreases.
“In addition, SiC devices are not affected by minority-carrier storage, facilitating rapid switching and further loss reduction as temperature decreases [1,11].”
From Thermal Management of Wide-Bandgap Power Semiconductors: Strategies and Challenges in SiC and GaN Power Devices (2025) · cites this paper as [11]
Simultaneous optimization of electrical performance, thermal behavior, and mechanical integrity is essential.
“Accordingly, simultaneous optimization of electrical performance, thermal behavior, and mechanical integrity is essential [10-12,27,82].”
From Thermal Management of Wide-Bandgap Power Semiconductors: Strategies and Challenges in SiC and GaN Power Devices (2025) · cites this paper as [11]
Realizing device-level advantages at the system level requires a multidisciplinary co-design approach that jointly considers device physics, packaging, circuit topologies, gate drivers, EMI filters, and cooling beyond optimizing isolated components.
“Realizing these device-level advantages at the system level, however, requires a multidisciplinary co-design approach that jointly considers device physics, packaging, circuit topologies, gate drivers, EMI filters, and cooling-beyond optimizing isolated components [10-12,27,80,81].”
From Thermal Management of Wide-Bandgap Power Semiconductors: Strategies and Challenges in SiC and GaN Power Devices (2025) · cites this paper as [11]
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References 16 · Cited by 10
- Authors
- Agrawal, B., Preindl, M., & Emadi, A.
- Affiliations
- McMaster University (CA)
- Columbia University (US)
- Venue
- 2017 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Technology (ICIT)
- Publisher
- IEEE
- Published
- 2017-03
- Pages
- 236-241
- OpenAlex
- W2613409269
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 1.93
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- IEEE International Conference on Industrial Technology (ICIT) (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Canada Research Chairs
- Canada Excellence Research Chairs, Government of Canada
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Advanced DC-DC Converters
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Silicon Carbide Semiconductor Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Electromagnetic Compatibility and Noise Suppression
- Keywords
- soft switching, wide bandgap devices, SiC MOSFET, switching losses, turn-on loss, drain-source capacitance, power converter efficiency, switching frequency
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