By Josh Perry, Editor [email protected]
A recent article from Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ATS), a leading-edge thermal engineering and manufacturing company focused on the thermal management of electronics, explores the thermal management techniques required for cooling high-powered devices composed of wide-bandgap materials silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN).
Engineers are using wide-bandgap materials to expand the capabilities of power electronics, pushing them beyond the thermal and electrical limits of silicon-based components. (Background image created by Xb100 – Freepik.com)
As the article explained, the prevalence of new materials has grown considerably in recent years while engineers searched for higher power in smaller packages and tried to squeeze as many devices as possible into each system.
Wide-bandgap materials perform more efficiently than silicon, which has long been the standard material for building power electronics, at high temperatures and also have a higher breakdown voltage. This allows SiC or GaN devices to consume less power, charge faster, and convert energy at a higher rate.
The article added, “As evidence of the industry’s acceptance of wide-bandgap materials, JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, a leader in standards development for the microelectronics industry, announced in September that it formed a committee on Wide Bandgap Power Electronic Conversion Semiconductors with sub-committees for SiC and GaN.”
Wide-bandgap materials may withstand higher temperatures than silicon devices but other components in the system may not be able to and there remain thermal management considerations for engineers. SiC and GaN devices are not impervious to the effects of heat with increased switching losses remaining an issue at temperatures higher than 100°C.
“The higher heat loads and the desire for smaller packaging mean passive, air cooling techniques are unlikely to accommodate the thermal management needs of the system,” the article noted. “Liquid cooling is usually required, particularly the use of liquid cold plates to increase the rate of heat transfer to the ambient.”
According to the article, NREL research suggested the following tactics for cooling SiC: using thermal interface material (TIM) that has low thermal resistance and is “reliable at functional temperatures,” using microchannels in cold plates to lower device junction temperatures, enhancing the surface and including “turbulence promoters” in the module, and incorporating both advanced manufacturing techniques and “multiple mode cooling” at the system level.
Read the full article and see more solutions for cooling SiC and GaN devices at http://bit.ly/2KdIto3.
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