PERFORMANCE OF A 600-V, 30-A, BI-DIRECTIONAL SILICON CARBIDE SOLID-STATE CIRCUIT BREAKER

Bi-directional solid-state circuit breakers (BDSSCBs) can provide performance benefits over mechanical fault protection devices. A common-source configuration of normally ON, junction field effect transistors (JFETs) is favorable for BDSSCB implementations. SiC 0.1-cm² 1200-V JFETs designed for normally-ON operation at a zero-volt gate bias, and having low leakage currents, were used in the fabrication of a 30-A BDSSCB switch module. Operation of the module under continuous current and during turn-OFF transitions was evaluated to verify the parallel scalability of the common-source configuration. A bi-directional snubber connected across the switch module mitigated inductive voltage overshoot during BDSSCB turn-OFF transitions. At turn-OFF, under maximum power tests in both directions, the load current was reduced from 30 A to 0 A in approximately 10 μs, with a supply voltage of 600 V, and a BDSSCB peak voltage of 680 V. These results demonstrate the functionality and current scalability of this BDSSCB topology.