What exactly is SiC and GaN?

First, what is a Wide Bandgap semiconductor: Recently, many people have heard of the third generation of semiconductors is very hot, such as electric new energy vehicles do not move 800V high-pressure fast charging, mobile phone charging power has been 120V, etc., cloudy and seemingly unintelligible, this editorial high school students for you to do a simple science, I hope that you have an understanding of.   

Wide Bandgap semiconductor is also known as the third generation of semiconductors, that the first generation, the second generation and the third generation of semiconductor materials, respectively? I will give you a brief introduction as follows:

The first generation of elemental semiconductors, mainly including silicon (Si), germanium (Ge) as the representative of the single semiconductor, of which germanium is the first to be studied and applied, but due to its high cost and poor stability, mainly used in some light-emitting diodes, solar cells. Silicon-based materials are the basis of the current mainstream logic chips and power devices, silicon-based semiconductor materials, power semiconductor components such as MOSFETs and IGBTs as the representative of the era of solid-state electronics, but also in the field of power electronics is currently the most widely used semiconductor materials. The second generation of compound semiconductors, mainly refers to binary / ternary compound semiconductor materials, such as gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), which is mainly used for the production of high-speed, high-frequency, high-power and light-emitting electronic devices, is the production of high-performance microwave, millimetre-wave devices and light-emitting devices, the main areas of application, including satellite communications, mobile communications, optical communications, GPS navigation and so on. The third generation of wide-band semiconductor, mainly including silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN), zinc oxide (ZnO), diamond, aluminium nitride (AlN), etc., the advantages of the forbidden bandwidth is large (> 2.2ev), high breakdown field, high thermal conductivity, radiation resistance, high luminous efficiency, high frequency, can be used for high temperature, high-frequency, radiation-resistant and high-power devices, and also is the country's current development of new semiconductor devices. It is also a new type of semiconductor device developed by the state. Among them, GaN has developed rapidly in recent years, becoming a big star in the industry!

Second, what is the role of: Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFET or Gallium Nitride (GaN) FETs and other wide bandgap FETs can not only replace the silicon MOSFET, but also more efficient. At the same voltage level as silicon MOSFETs, wide bandgap FETs have very low or no reverse recovery charge (Qrr) and low on-resistance. In addition, almost all other parasitic effects of wide-bandgap FETs, including gate charge (Qg) and output capacitance (Coss), are much weaker than those of silicon MOSFETs, resulting in very fast switching speeds: transitions in excess of 150 V/ns, compared to transitions in superjunction silicon MOSFETs of less than 80 V/ns. The faster the switching speeds, the shorter the time required to turn on or off the power switch, and the lower the switching losses. Also lower switching losses.

Summary: (SiC) and (GaN) are Wide Bandgap semiconductors that enable higher power density and efficiency than traditional silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) and insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs.) GaN allows for more efficient power handling than a pure silicon solution, reduces power loss in power converters by up to 80 per cent and minimises the need for added cooling. GaN enables more efficient power handling than silicon only solutions, reducing power loss in power converters by 80% and minimising the need for additional cooling. By storing more power in less space, it allows you to design smaller and lighter systems.