Condition Monitoring of a GaN Full-Bridge by Means of Forward Voltage Measurements in Continuous Operation

Inhalt:
Due to their exceptional properties, wide bandgap (WBG) devices are steadily gaining ground in the field of power electronics. Various load profiles in automotive and photovoltaic applications expose WBG components to demanding load conditions, which promote the occurrence of trapping effects, thus leading to changes in the drain-source resistance r(DS,on). In fact, the change in (rDS,on) during operation at nominal power can be a crucial issue for the reliability of WBG components and can cause instability in the system. This study focuses on the monitoring of r(DS,on) of a gallium nitride (GaN) full-bridge in continuous 140 kHz switching operation under various operational cases.