Electrothermal modeling of silicon carbide (SiC) power devices is frequently performed to estimate the device temperature in operation, typically assuming a constant thermal conductivity and/or heat capacity of the SiC material. Whether and by how much the accuracy of the resulting device temperature prediction under these assumptions is compromised has not been investigated so far. Focusing on high-temperature operating conditions as found under short circuit (SC), this paper presents a comprehensive analysis of thermal material properties determining the temperature distribution inside SiC power MOSFETs. Using a calibrated technology computer-aided design (TCAD) electrothermal model, it is demonstrated that the temperature prediction of SiC power devices under SC operation when neglecting either the top metallization or the temperature dependence of the heat capacity is inaccurate by as high as 25%. The presented analysis enables to optimize compact electrothermal models in terms of accuracy and computational time, which can be used to assess the maximum temperature of SiC power MOSFETs in both discrete packages and multichip power modules exposed to fast thermal transients. A onedimensional thermal network of a SiC power MOSFET is proposed based on the thermal material properties, the size of the active area of the device, and its thickness. Index Terms-Electrothermal (ET) modeling, short circuit (SC), silicon carbide (SiC), TCAD, thermal conductivity. I. INTRODUCTIONW ITH the ever-increasing requirements for energy saving, the adoption of silicon carbide (SiC) power transistors has been following a growing trend across different power electronic (PE) applications, including electrical vehicles (EVs), EV charging infrastructure, power factor correction, power supply, photovoltaics, uninterruptible power supplies, motor drives, wind, and rail [1]. Increasing the acceptance of the emerging SiC technology in the field of high-frequency, high-temperature, and/or high-power applications needs to be supported by a comprehensive understanding of SiC material properties and their influence on the system performance. Nowadays, multiphysics modeling tools based on the underlying physics of the SiC material are widely employed both in academia and industry to

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Abstract-Compact, light weight and efficient Power ElectronicBuilding Blocks are seen as fundamental components of future More Electric Power Systems, e.g. More Electrical Aircraft. Core elements supporting the trend are power modules employing solely SiC MOSFETs. In order to take advantage of the high switching speed enabled by SiC, novel modules concepts must be investigated. For example, low inductance planar interconnection technologies, integrated buffer capacitors and damping networks are possible solutions to mitigate switching overvoltages and oscillations at the switching node occurring for conventional modules. In this paper, the analysis and the design of a novel ultra-low inductance 1200 V SiC power module featuring an integrated buffer-damping network are discussed. The power module is first described and characterized with impedance measurements. Afterwards, a general optimization procedure for the sizing and the selection of the integrated components is presented and measurements are performed to verify the analysis and to highlight the improvements of the proposed solution.

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This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of non-linear voltage-dependent capacitances of vertical SiC power MOSFETs with lateral channel, focusing specifically on fast switching transients. The capacitance-voltage (C-V) device characteristics, (Cgs, C gd , C ds), being dependent on both Vgs and V ds , are extracted by means of two-dimensional Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) simulations for a commercially available device in both off-and on-state modes. Different compact models for the power MOSFET are investigated, each employing a three inter-terminal capacitance model as typically used in power electronics. The performed analysis provides a detailed explanation for the importance of taking into account the dependence of C gd , Cgs and C ds on both of the voltages Vgs and V ds. This is especially important for fast switching transients (in the range of 10 ns) in order to accurately predict switching losses, driver losses, current and voltage slopes, as well as current and voltage delays. As direct measurements for C gd , Cgs and C ds in dependence of both Vgs and V ds are highly demanding, the results presented in this paper increase the understanding of both the underlying effects as well as of the trade-offs between accuracy and computational complexity made by simplifying device models. In turn, this information is highly beneficial for enabling accurate and computationally efficient automated design procedures for power electronics.