Overvoltage and Oscillation Suppression Circuit With Switching Losses Optimization and Clamping Energy Feedback for SiC MOSFET

The snubber circuit is a cost-effective solution to reduce the severe turn-off overvoltage and oscillation caused by the fast switching characteristics of SiC MOSFET. However, the turn-on switching losses will significantly increase as the snubber decouples the power loop parasitic inductance during the switching process. In this article, the effect of the power loop parasitic inductance on the switch performance of SiC MOSFETs and the quasi-zero voltage switching (QZVS) turn-on condition are studied. On this basis, an SiC MOSFET overvoltage and oscillation suppression circuit (OVSC) with not only the switching losses optimization feature but also the clamping energy feedback characteristic is proposed. The overvoltage and oscillation can be effectively suppressed by clamping capacitors, and those capacitors do not participate in the switching process until the overvoltage occurs, which is of benefit to the switching losses reduction compared with the other normal snubber circuits. Besides, the turn-off overvoltage and oscillation energy stored in the clamping capacitors can be feedback to dc and load side through a passive branch composed of an energy feedback inductor and a diode. The experimental studies and comprehensive comparison studies are carried out to verify the validity of the proposed OVSC. The experimental results show that OVSC has excellent overvoltage and oscillation suppression performance and can significantly reduce the switching losses.

Automated summary

The snubber circuit is a cost-effective solution to reduce the overvoltage and oscillation caused by the fast switching characteristics of SiC MOSFET, but it may increase turn-on switching losses. The proposed overvoltage and oscillation suppression circuit aims to optimize switching losses and provide clamping energy feedback, effectively suppressing overvoltage and oscillation while reducing switching losses.