Vishay Intertechnology is currently introducing 17 new 650V Generation 3 SiC Schottky diodes. They feature a Merged-PIN Schottky (MPS) design and combine high surge current capability with low forward voltage, low capacitive charge and low reverse current to increase efficiency and reliability in switching power supply designs. These SiC diodes come in 4 to 40A versions in TO-22OAC 2L and TO-247AD 3L for through-hole mounting and D2PAK 2L (TO-263AB 2L) for surface mounting. The MPS structure reduces the forward voltage by 0.3V compared to the previous generation, while the product of forward voltage and capacitive charge is 17% lower.
The typical reverse current is 30% lower at room temperature and 70% lower at high temperatures than comparable competitive solutions. This reduces conduction losses and ensures high system efficiency at low load and no-load conditions. In contrast to ultra-fast diodes, Generation 3 devices have virtually no recovery phase, which further increases efficiency. The reverse recovery times of the diodes are almost temperature independent and allow operation at higher temperatures up to +175°C without changing the power efficiency caused by switching losses.
Typical applications include AC/DC and DC/DC Ultra RF output rectifiers for power generation and research applications. The RoHS-compliant and halogen-free diodes have passed the HTRB (Higher Temperature Reverse Bias) test of 2000 h and temperature cycling test with 2000 thermal cycles. This corresponds to twice the number of test hours and cycles according to AEC-Q101.
