WHO:   SemiSouth Laboratories Inc., a silicon carbide (SiC) based semiconductor company, along with the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS) at Mississippi State University, will discuss the characteristics of SemiSouth's normally-off, SiC JFET in power factor correction applications based on the drop-in replacement results of a normally-off SiC JFET for an IGBT in a PFC demo circuit.    CAVS provided guidance and precision test equipment required to measure and validate results.

WHAT: The first in a series of applications-based evaluations showing the immediate benefits of SemiSouth's true enhancement-mode SiC JFET in a broad range of commercial power electronics systems and circuits, this paper presents the steps, results and system advantages from a drop-in replacement of an IGBT with a normally off SiC JFET in a PFC demo circuit.   The paper, entitled "Power Factor Correction Using An Enhancement-mode SiC JFET," demonstrates how a simple change in the series gate impedance, allows the normally-off SiC JFET to be used with common IC drivers as a drop-in replacement for silicon power devices in most applications.    The new, true enhancement mode, three-terminal, pure-SiC design provides designers with a normally off solution that retains all the benefits of the normally on SiC JFET while being easily adapted into current design architectures.    Future circuits designed specifically to optimize the benefits from the properties of the enhancement-mode, SiC JFET can yield more efficient, more reliable, more compact, and more cost effective products than is achievable with today's silicon components.

WHEN:  Robin Kelley, SiC Applications Engineer, will present this paper on Thursday, June 19 in session TH26: "Silicon Carbide Technologies" at 4:50pm in the Lindos room.

WHERE: PESC08 is being held at the Capsis Hotel and Convention Center, Rhodes, Greece, June 15-19, 2008.  PESC08 is an international conference for the exchange of information regarding research and development in Power Electronics and its related fields, which brings together both researchers and practitioners from different disciplines.

CONTACT: Information on PESC08 can be found at http://www.pesc08.org

About SemiSouth Laboratories, Inc.
Founded in 2000, with headquarters in Austin, Texas and manufacturing in Starkville, Mississippi, SemiSouth is a privately held silicon carbide (SiC) based semiconductor company. As an industry leader in the development and manufacture of SiC electrical components and materials for high-power, high-efficiency, harsh-environment power management applications, SemiSouth provides discrete power devices, and SiC epiwafers.  SiC-based semiconductor devices offer significant advantages over competing products based on silicon and other semiconductor materials for power management applications. 

About the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems.
CAVS is an interdisciplinary center operating research facilities at Mississippi State University's adjacent Thad Cochran Research and Technology Park, and in Canton, Mississippi, near Nissan's manufacturing facility.   It provides engineering, research, development, and technology transfer teams focused on complex problems, such as those encountered in technologies designed to improve human mobility. The development efforts provide short-term solutions relevant to regional manufacturers while the core research builds longer-term knowledge needed for sustained economic development. At the same time, students gain valuable project experience that compliments their formal classroom learning.

SemiSouth and the SemiSouth logo are trademarks of SemiSouth Laboratories, Inc. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners. For more information, visit us on the website at http://www.semisouth.com