Study on Transient Light Emission of SiC Power MOSFETs Regarding the Sensing of Source-Drain Currents in Hard-Switched Power Electronic Applications

Inhalt:
This paper presents a study on transient light emission of p-n body diodes in SiC Power MOSFETs regarding the sensing of source-drain currents in hard-switched power electronic applications. By means of double pulse measurements the authors investigate the behavior of the transient light emission in terms of its current dependence. It is found that the intensity of the transient light emission is directly related to the current and exhibits a saturation behaviour at high current ratings, which probably can be attributed to concurrent non-radiant Auger recombination. Furthermore, the measurements reveal a short delay of the light emission with an inverse relation to the causing current, which is also known from usual LEDs. Additionally, the accuracy of the luminescence-based current sensing approach is investigated.