The Power Mosfet

This chapter presents an overview of power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET). One of the main contributions that led to the growth of the power electronics field has been the unprecedented advancement in the semiconductor technology, especially with respect to switching speed and power handling capabilities. Unlike the lateral channel MOSFET devices used in many IC technology in which the gate, source, and drain terminals are located in the same surface of the silicon wafer, power MOSFET use vertical channel structure in order to increase the device power rating. The modern power MOSFET has an internal diode called a body diode connected between the source and the drain. Most of the MOSFET devices used in power electronics applications are of the n-channel, enhancement-type. Depending on the applications, the power range processed in power electronic range is very wide, from hundreds of milliwatts to hundreds of megawatts. Therefore, it is very difficult to find a single switching device type to cover all power electronic applications. Today\u27s available power devices have tremendous power and frequency rating range as well as diversity. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved