Publications

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Carrier generation characteristics in n-type substrate SiC MOS capacitors induced by sub-bandgap energy light are reported. The generation rate is high enough to create an inversion layer in ∼20 minutes with monochromatic light (front side illumination) of energy 2.1 eV (intensity ∼5×10 16 cm-2s-1) in 4H-SiC for electric fields smaller than 1 MV/cm. Generation and recovery results strongly indicate involvement of a metastable defect whose efficiency as a generation center increases under hole-rich and decreases under electron-rich conditions. The generation dependence on bias history and light energy shows the defect to have properties consistent with the metastable silicon vacancy / carbon vacancy-antisite complex (VSi/Vc-CSi). © (2012) Trans Tech Publications.

A dedicated design qualification standard for PV inverters does not exist. Development of a well-accepted design qualification standard, specifically for PV inverters will significantly improve the reliability and performance of inverters. The existing standards for PV inverters such as ANSI/UL 1741 and IEC 62109-1 primarily focus on safety of PV inverters. The IEC 62093 discusses inverter qualification but it includes all the BOS components. There are other general standards for distributed generators including the IEEE 1547 series of standards which cover major concerns like utility integration but they are not dedicated to PV inverters and are not written from a design qualification point of view. In this paper some of the potential requirements for a design qualification standard for PV inverters are addressed. The missing links in existing PV inverter related standards are identified and with the IEC 62093 as a guideline, the possible inclusions in the framework for a dedicated design qualification standard of PV inverter are discussed. Some of the key missing links are related to electric stress tests. Hence, a method to adapt the existing surge withstand test standards for use in design qualification standard of PV inverter is presented. © 2011 IEEE.

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Carrier generation characteristics in n-type substrate silicon carbide (SiC) metal oxide semiconductor capacitors induced by sub-bandgap energy light are reported. The generation rate is high enough to create an inversion layer in approximately 20 min with monochromatic front side illumination of energy 2.1 eV in 4H-SiC for electric fields less than 1 MV/cm. Generation and recovery results strongly indicate involvement of a metastable defect whose efficiency as a generation center increases under hole-rich and decreases under electron-rich conditions. The generation dependence on bias history and light energy shows the defect to have properties consistent with the metastable silicon vacancy/carbon vacancy-antisite complex (VSi/Vc-C Si). © 2011 American Institute of Physics.

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Power conversion systems for energy storage and other distributed energy resource applications are among the drivers of the important role that power electronics plays in providing reliable electricity. Wide band gap semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) will help increase the performance and efficiency of power electronic equipment while condition monitoring (CM) and prognostics and health management (PHM) will increase the operational availability of the equipment and thereby make it more cost effective. Voltage and/or temperature stress testing were performed on a number of SiC devices in order to accelerate failure modes and to identify measureable shifts in electrical characteristics which may provide early indication of those failures. Those shifts can be interpreted and modeled to provide prognostic signatures for use in CM and/or PHM. Such experiments will also lead to a deeper understanding of basic device physics and the degradation mechanisms behind failure.

The project's goals are: (1) use experiments and modeling to investigate and characterize stress-related failure modes of post-silicon power electronic (PE) devices such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) switches; and (2) seek opportunities for condition monitoring (CM) and prognostics and health management (PHM) to further enhance the reliability of power electronics devices and equipment. CM - detect anomalies and diagnose problems that require maintenance. PHM - track damage growth, predict time to failure, and manage subsequent maintenance and operations in such a way to optimize overall system utility against cost. The benefits of CM/PHM are: (1) operate power conversion systems in ways that will preclude predicted failures; (2) reduce unscheduled downtime and thereby reduce costs; and (3) pioneering reliability in SiC and GaN.