Temperature non-uniformity of silicon carbide metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors

Benefiting from the excellent material properties of silicon carbide (SiC) materials, SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) are able to reduce the cost while improving the electrical performance. However, improvement of performance and reduction of the chip size leads to a higher temperature rise and a more uneven temperature distribution, which lead to serious reliability problems. In this study, the temperature distributions of chip were measured by infrared thermal imaging and finite element simulation. The results obtained from both measurement methods showed a high degree of similarity, which indicated significantly higher temperature gradients and peak junction temperatures in SiC MOSFETs compared to silicon-based devices.