Co-development of SiC power device prototypes and their applied system

AIST collaborates with Fuji Electric Advanced Technology for developing SiC power device mass-production prototypes and for demonstration-testing its applied systems, with intention of establishing the production technique of the SiC power device chips to stably and quickly supply the device chips the amount of which is required for the inverter development.

AIST = Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
SiC = silicon carbide

In current situations of calling for co2 reduction and power saving, much attention has been paid to the SiC power device having its advantageous features of large capacity and low loss, and also to the inverter using such SiC power devices.
The SiC power device per se has been developed to satisfactory levels, but the inverter using the SiC power devices remains in unsatisfactory levels.
This results from the following reasons. The companies having developed the SiC power devices are different from those having developed their applied systems. On account of this, it is difficult to stably and quickly supply reliable and high-quality SiC power devices. This impedes the development of the inverter using a number of SiC power devices. To put the SiC inverter into practice, it is essential to form SiC inverter prototypes and to demonstration-test the prototype inverters.
Source: AIST’s press release
References:
1) Significantly improved next generation power semiconductor device
- About 70% reduction of power loss is realized in 11 kW SiC inverter -
http://www.mitsubishielectric.co.jp/news/2009/0218-d.htm
２）SiC power device technology
http://www.jeita.or.jp/japanese/exhibit/06MrTakami.pdf
3) SiC devices and their application technologies
Shin－ichi Kinouchi, Hiroshi Nakatake, Masayuki Imaizumi
http://www.mitsubishielectric.co.jp/giho/0507/0507107.pdf
４）World’s first high power module containing SiC semiconductor devices designed for next generation electric vehicle, co-developed by Honda R&D and ROHM
http://www.rohm.co.jp/news/080911.html
5) What's SiC?
Shinano Electric Refining Co., Ltd.
http://www.shinano-sic.co.jp/en/w_sic.html

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