Abstract
Lifetime models of high-power Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors modules express the number of cycles to end of life as a function of stress parameters. These models are normally developed based on experimental data from accelerated power-cycling tests performed at predefined temperature stress conditions as, for example, with temperature swings above 60 °C. However, in real power converters applications, the power modules are usually stressed at temperature cycles not exceeding 40 °C. Thus, extrapolating the parameters of lifetime models developed using data from high-temperature stress cycles experiments might result in erroneous lifetime estimations. This paper presents experimental results from power cycling tests on high-power Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors modules subjected to low temperature stress cycles of 30 and 40 °C. Therefore, devices experience still accelerated aging but with stress conditions much closer to the real application. Post-mortem failure analysis has been performed on the modules reaching end-of-life in order to identify the failure mechanism. Finally, the number of cycles to end-of-life obtained experimentally is fit with a state-of-the-art lifetime model to assess its validity at low temperature stress cycles. Challenges and limitations on data fitting to this lifetime model and the impact of various stress parameters on the anticipated failure are also presented.
Highlights
Insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) are undoubtedly the most utilized power semiconductor switching devices in highpower converters due to their robust design and low conduction losses
A different situation was revealed in the 4th power cycling tests (PCTs) run, where five out of eight devices under test (DUTs) reached their EOL by fulfilling the Rth increase-detection criterion
It should be noticed that for the 4th test run, the on-period is relatively long compared to the other PCT runs
Summary
Insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) are undoubtedly the most utilized power semiconductor switching devices in highpower converters due to their robust design and low conduction losses. Power IGBTs are vulnerable components and their failure leads to severe malfunctions or destructive failures of the power converters [1,2,3,4]. The understanding of the failure mechanisms for IGBT modules and the availability of verified lifetime models are critical for determining the reliability of power converters. Failure statistics from the field [5, 6] and accelerated power cycling tests (PCTs) [7, 8] have been utilized for assessing the reliability of IGBT power modules. The accelerated PCT is the approach generally adopted for assessing long-term reliability of high-power IGBT modules, as well as, for modelling their expected lifetime [3, 4]
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