Design of Snubber Capacitor for Equalization of Voltage Sharing in Series Connected SiC MOSFETs

There has been a growing demand for power semiconductor switches equipped with high-voltage blocking capability of kV range and fast-switching characteristics of ns range in various plasma application. This paper investigates the application of SiC MOSFETs in the particular plasma application which requires the blocking voltage of 4.5kV and the switching transient time of less than 100ns. In order to meet the required blocking voltage, the series connection of multiple SiC MOSFETs is adopted in this paper. Also, snubber capacitors are employed to equalize the voltage sharing among the series connected SiC MOSFETs. The simulation and experimental result successfully verifies the application of SiC MOSFETs and snubber capacitors in the plasma application requiring high-voltage and fast-switching load dynamics.