The Growing Importance of SiC Schottky Diodes

By Shane Timmons, Product Marketing Manager, Discrete Business Group

In power electronics, minimizing losses is crucial for optimizing the performance of power systems. Silicon carbide (SiC) Schottky diodes have emerged as key components in achieving this objective. The market for these devices is experiencing robust growth, driven by the increasing demand for high-efficiency power applications. This demand is particularly strong in rapidly expanding sectors such as electric vehicles (EV), renewable energy, and data centers. The market is predicted to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 24% from 2025 to 2033^[1].

Key Advantages for Efficiency

SiC Schottky diodes offer several benefits compared to silicon alternatives, making them ideal for high-efficiency power-switching applications, primarily by minimizing power losses. These advantages include:

• A low forward voltage (VF) drop, which is significant as it helps minimize heat dissipation and conduction losses. This characteristic contributes directly to reducing cooling costs and operational expenses.
• A low capacitive charge (QC), contributing to the fast switching capabilities of these SiC Schottky diodes. This, coupled with the absence of reverse recovery current, results in negligible switching losses. Minimizing switching losses in power supplies and converters is essential for helping to improve efficiency.
• A low reverse leakage current (IR), which is also beneficial as it helps to minimize power consumption.

Their excellent efficiency means SiC Schottky diodes are often a good choice for high-efficiency power-switching applications. These applications include DC-to-DC and AC-to-DC conversion, renewable energy systems, data centers (especially those handling heavy AI workloads), and industrial motor drives.

Performance Metrics

To quantify performance related to minimizing losses, the low capacitive charge (QC) and low forward voltage (VF) are often combined into a figure-of-merit (FOM). This FOM is calculated as FOM = QC × VF, and is particularly relevant for high-speed switching circuits.

Diodes Incorporated (Diodes) offers a range of high-performance, 650V SiC Schottky diodes, including the DSCxxA065LP series. This series boasts an industry-leading FOM, making it ideal for high-speed switching circuits. Furthermore, these devices feature the lowest IR in the market, specified at just 20µA (max.).

Enabling Compact Designs

High-speed switching circuits, which are enabled by components like these SiC Schottky diodes with low QC and excellent FOM, allow power converters to operate at higher frequencies. This capability enables a reduction in the size of passive components, such as inductors and capacitors. Consequently, this leads to more compact and lightweight designs, particularly advantageous in space-constrained applications like EVs and battery storage systems.

The physical design of these devices also contributes to improved performance and space-saving. They are provided in a compact, thermally efficient T-DFN8080-4 package, typically measuring 8mm x 8mm x 1mm. This low-profile surface mount package incorporates a large underside heat pad, which helps to reduce thermal resistance. This thermal efficiency supports higher power density, further reducing the overall solution size and requiring a lower cooling budget.

The Broader Benefits of High Efficiency

Ultimately, high efficiency in power electronics offers a wide range of benefits. Efficient converters can convert a greater amount of input power into useful output power, thereby minimizing wasteful losses. 

In data centers, high-efficiency power supplies and converters help reduce overall energy consumption, resulting in lower operational costs. This also helps in meeting energy efficiency standards. Similarly, efficient power conversion extends the range of EVs by maximizing the use of the battery’s stored energy, thereby improving performance and appeal.

High efficiency also translates into lower operational costs in additional ways. By generating less heat, efficient power electronics reduce the need for extensive cooling systems, which is particularly beneficial in environments like data centers where cooling expenses are significant. Moreover, the reduction in heat generation means less thermal stress on components, which extends their lifespan and reduces maintenance costs.

In summary, high-efficiency power electronics not only improve performance and reliability but also support more sustainable and cost-effective system designs.

 
 
[1] https://www.datainsightsmarket.com/reports/sic-schottky-diodes-discrete-161927

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