Performance analysis of si schottky diode family in DC-DC converter

The unipolar-based devices, silicon schottky (Si) and silicon carbide schottky (SiC) power diodes are investigated for their reverse recovery transient responses and the effects on the switching losses of the MOSFET in the DC-DC converter. Two sets of inductive load chopper circuits are simulated using PSpice software to determine the effectiveness and superiority in each of the devices. All parameter settings are consistent for both converter circuits. The results have shown that the SiC diode has higher energy savings of more than 73.13 % in turn-off switching losses. This eventually corresponds to the reduction of 96.16 % in MOSFET turn-on peak power dissipation of SiC converter. However, there is a minor drawback in efficiency of the converter. Some detailed analyses are presented in the paper. © 2009 IEEE.