Silicon Carbide power electronics waste too much energy because electrons get stuck at a critical internal junction, and this project aims to unstick them. The material itself is exceptional—it can handle ten times the voltage of silicon and three times the heat, making it ideal for electric vehicle inverters, solar converters, and AI data centre power supplies. But the oxide interface where the switching channel forms has carrier mobility 50 times worse than an equivalent silicon device, negating many of Silicon Carbide's advantages. This project will use advanced electron microscopy to study that interface in unprecedented detail, then develop techniques to boost mobility fivefold. The team also plans to demonstrate high-voltage FinFETs that exploit quantum effects to increase mobility tenfold. If successful, the work could unlock the full potential of Silicon Carbide power electronics, cutting CO₂ emissions by an order of magnitude beyond the best silicon technologies. The Japan-UK consortium brings complementary expertise in materials science and device fabrication to tackle a problem that has held back a market growing at over 30% annually.
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Silicon Carbide is the true “wonder” material for power electronics. Its exceptional field strength (10x that of Silicon) and high thermal conductivity (3x that of Silicon and 3.5x that of Gallium Nitride) make it ideal for high voltage (over 600V) and high power (over 1kW) applications, such as inverters for electric vehicles, wind and photovoltaic converters, and power supplies for AI data centres. Moreover, the CO2 savings enabled by Silicon Carbide are projected to be an order of magnitude higher than those provided by the most advanced Silicon technologies. Furthermore, at 1.2 kV rating and above, Silicon Carbide is superior to other promising wide bandgap materials such as GaN. However, despite its impressive market traction with an annual growth rate exceeding 30%, one major issue remains unsolved: the very poor carrier mobility (e.g. 20 cm2/Vs) in the modulated channel at the oxide/SiC interface. This value is 50x lower than in an equivalent Silicon device, negating to some extent the advantages of MOS-based Silicon Carbide devices and hampering its outstanding potential in power electronics. It is the aim of this project to study in greater depth this interface using innovative techniques based on electron microscopy, propose novel techniques to enhance the mobility by 5x at the oxide/SiC interface and experimentally demonstrate disruptive device concepts in Silicon Carbide such as high voltage FinFETs which use quantum effects to increase the mobility by a factor of 10x. The proposed Japan-UK consortium is highly complementary and very well equipped to undertake this work.
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