Cosmic ray induced failures in high power semiconductor devices

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We present a general model for cosmic ray induced failures in high volate devices. The only relevant model assumption is that the local probability depends only on the local electrical field. This model leads to a universal master curve for the failure rates of GTO's, thyristors and diodes. The IGBT is more complex because of the complex field distribution. The predicted and observed failure rates in IGBT's are higher than in GTO devices with comparable axial designs. By comparison with burst charge data on DRAM's we show that for field above 120 kV/cm the failure rate is controlled by neutron induced Si recoils, at smaller field by muon - Si processes.