App note from ON Semiconductors on their SiC MOSFET’s key characteristics and how to drive them. Link here (PDF)
Silicon carbide (SiC) is part of the wide bandgap (WBG) family of semiconductor materials used to fabricate discrete power semiconductors. Conventional silicon (Si) MOSFETs have a bandgap energy of 1.12 eV compared to SiC MOSFETs possessing 3.26 eV.
The wider bandgap energy associated with SiC and (GaN) Gallium Nitride means that it takes approximately 3 times the energy to move electrons from their valence band to the conduction band, resulting in a material that behaves more like an insulator and less like a conductor. This allows WBG semiconductors to withstand much higher breakdown voltages, highlighted by their breakdown field robustness being 10 times that of silicon. A higher breakdown field enables a reduction in device thickness for a given voltage rating which translates to lower on−resistance and higher current capability.