State of the art and emerging solid-state power devices in the perspective of more electric aircraft

Today the technologies regarding the solid-state devices are in huge development. Well-established Silicon power devices in the field of the power conversion belong to several families having a large range of rated value of currents and voltages. The new entries are innovative devices exploiting the good properties of wide band gap materials, like the Silicon Carbide and the Gallium Arsenide. Industrial and academic research interests focus on the development of well-established and new devices, looking to obtain good performances and enhanced energy savings. This paper explores and discusses the application of the power devices in aviation, highlighting the crucial aspects and the challenges to deal with for a full implementation of the more electric aircraft paradigm.