Material Selection and Optimization

Due to the inherent properties of traditional silicon (Si)-based diodes, they struggle to meet the requirements of high efficiency in some high-frequency, high-voltage, and high-power application scenarios. New wide-bandgap semiconductor materials, such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), have gradually become the preferred materials for High-efficiency diodes

The bandgap width is an important parameter of semiconductor materials, which determines the energy required for electrons to transition from the valence band to the conduction band. The bandgap widths of SiC and GaN are much larger than that of silicon. This endows them with higher breakdown electric field strength, higher thermal conductivity, and higher electron saturation drift velocity. The higher breakdown electric field strength means that devices can withstand High-efficiency diodes and reduces the on-resistance of the devices; the higher thermal conductivity helps devices dissipate heat quickly during operation, reducing energy losses caused by heating; the higher electron saturation drift velocity enables devices to operate at higher frequencies, reducing switching losses. For example, in high-voltage applications, SiC diodes have significantly lower conduction losses and switching losses compared to silicon diodes, thus remarkably improving efficiency.High-efficiency diodes

Structural Design Innovations

High-efficiency diodes also feature numerous innovations in structural design. Take the Schottky diode as an example. It is a type of diode that uses a metal-semiconductor junction instead of a PN junction. High-efficiency diodes.The metal-semiconductor contact of the Schottky diode has a relatively low forward conduction voltage drop, generally between 0.4 - 0.6V, while the forward conduction voltage drop of a silicon PN junction diode is approximately 0.7V. The lower conduction voltage drop means that under the same operating current, the conduction losses of the Schottky diode are smaller. Meanwhile, Schottky diodes have no minority carrier storage effect, and their switching speed is extremely fast, allowing them to switch quickly at high frequencies, greatly reducing switching losses and improving the overall efficiency.High-efficiency diodes