Switching losses prediction methods oriented to power MOSFETs – a review

• Published in: IET power electronics Vol. 13; no. 14; pp. 2960 - 2970
• Main Authors: de Paula, Wesley Josias, Tavares, Gabriel Henrique Monteiro, Soares, Guilherme Marcio, Almeida, Pedro Santos, Braga, Henrique Antonio Carvalho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Institution of Engineering and Technology 04.11.2020
• Subjects: Ahmed method; Brown method; channel threshold voltage; current level ratings; datasheet information; datasheet parameters; double pulse circuit; elemental semiconductors; experimental prototype; Guo method; losses; MOSFET switching losses; MOSFET transconductance; parasitic inductances; power metal‐oxide‐semiconductor field‐effect transistors; power MOSFET; Review Article; SiC; silicon; silicon carbide‐based MOS power transistors; silicon compounds; silicon‐based MOS power transistors; switching; switching losses prediction methods; volt–ampere condition; wide band gap semiconductors; switching; power metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors; current level ratings; losses; SiC; Guo method; experimental prototype; datasheet information; switching losses prediction methods; volt–ampere condition; silicon carbide-based MOS power transistors; parasitic inductances; power MOSFET; elemental semiconductors; Brown method; datasheet parameters; silicon; silicon compounds; MOSFET switching losses; Si; Ahmed method; MOSFET transconductance; wide band gap semiconductors; channel threshold voltage; silicon-based MOS power transistors; double pulse circuit
• ISSN: 1755-4535; 1755-4543
• DOI: 10.1049/iet-pel.2019.1003

The aim of this study is to review the state-of-the-art of recent prediction methods for power metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) switching losses using datasheet parameters. A detailed technical literature investigation is carried out to collect the latest research contributions on this subject, pointing out their main features and drawbacks. Then, a particular section is dedicated to compare three different selected methods oriented to Si-based and SiC-based MOS power transistors. This analysis is performed on several voltage and current level ratings using an experimental prototype of a double pulse circuit. According to the experimental-supported study included here, at a particular volt–ampere condition, the Ahmed method provided the lowest theoretical error of 2.38%, while the Guo method attained 41.2% and Brown method presented 28.5%. In addition, according to the experimental results it can be concluded that it is very difficult to obtain a high level of accuracy concerning MOSFET switching losses, mainly due to the uncertainty when selecting datasheet information. Among the parameters that most influence the measurements, one could list the MOSFET transconductance, the channel threshold voltage and the parasitic inductances.