Enhance Reliability of Semiconductor Devices in Power Converters

Nguyen, Minh Hoang; Kwak, Sangshin

doi:10.3390/electronics9122068

Cited by 31 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 133 publications

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“…As illustrated in Figure 2, the two different types of MOSFETS-P and N-type are illustrated. Overall, MOSFETs are voltage-controlled devices that function by utilizing the magnitude of the gate-source voltage (V GS ) to change the amount of induced charge on the semiconductor surface, thereby controlling the drain current (i D ) [25]. Generally, the mode of operation of MOSFETS could either be a depletion type (P-channel) or enhancement type (N-channel) whereby enhancement types require the V GS to switch the device "OFF" as is the case with a normally closed switch while the reverse is the case for a depletion type.…”

Section: Ac-dc Switched Mode Power Supplymentioning

confidence: 99%

An Integrated Cost-Aware Dual Monitoring Framework for SMPS Switching Device Diagnosis

2021

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The ability of a switch-mode AC/DC power supply to shrink supplies is a benefit and a requirement for most electronic devices with limited space. Major failures in switch-mode power supply (SMPS) during adverse working conditions are subject to mostly the switching devices and capacitors. For effective condition monitoring of the SMPS, dual (or multiple) sensing provides a more reliable standpoint against the traditional single sensing techniques as it provides a more comprehensive paradigm for accurate condition monitoring. This study proposes an integrated approach to SMPS condition monitoring by exploiting statistically extracted features from current and voltage signals for system fault diagnosis based on electrical stress. Following a correlation-based feature selection approach, salient features were utilized for improved fault detection and isolation (FDI) using ML-based classifiers. Diagnostic results by the classifiers reveal that the random forest and gradient boosting classifiers are highly reliable but computationally expensive when compared with the others while the decision tree was quite cost-efficient with reliable diagnostic results. The proposed framework is effectively applicable for use in diagnosing the switching devices and classification at different states.

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Section: Ac-dc Switched Mode Power Supplymentioning

confidence: 99%

An Integrated Cost-Aware Dual Monitoring Framework for SMPS Switching Device Diagnosis

2021

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“…Another measurement that can be done on the IGBTs is to extract the V CE -V GE curve. The knee points at V CE -V GE curve (threshold gate voltage/collector-emitter ON voltage) can also be a suitable failure-precursor parameter to show the IGBT's health condition (e.g., latch-up) [40][41][42]. When the gate voltage exceeds its threshold, the IGBT acts as an open gate, but it is still not completely turned on until a bias voltage is applied across the collector and emitter.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Practical Challenges of High-Power IGBT’s I-V Curve Measurement and Its Importance in Reliability Analysis

et al. 2021

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This paper examines the practical challenges of simplified setups aimed at achieving high-power IGBTs’ IC–VCE curve. The slope of this I–V curve (which is defined as on-resistance RCE) and the point where the VCE–VGE curve visibly bends (threshold gate voltage) can be suitable failure precursor parameters to determine an IGBT’s health condition. A simplified/affordable design for these specific measurements can be used for in-situ condition monitoring or field testing of switching devices. First, the possible I–V curve measurement methods are discussed in detail in order to prevent self-heating. The selected design includes two IGBTs in which the high-side IGBT was the device under test (DUT) with a constant gate voltage (VGE) of 15 V. Then, the low-side IGBT was switched by a short pulse (50 μs) to impose a high-current pulse on the DUT. The VCE–VGE curve was also extracted as an important failure-precursor indicator. In the next stage, a power-cycling test was performed, and the impact of degradation on the IGBT was analyzed by these measurement methods. The results show that after 18,000 thermal cycles, a visible shift in I–V curve can be seen. The internal resistance increased by 13%, while the initial collector-emitter voltage and voltage at the knee point in the VCE–VGE curve slightly changed. It is likely that in our case, during the performed power-cycling test and aging process, the bond wires were most affected, but this hypothesis needs further investigation.

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“…Starting from the thermal impedance profile Z th (t), it is possible to implement a curve-fitting procedure on it by using Equation (7), where it is assumed to achieve a profile of Z th (t) with a Foster thermal network, whose parameters R th,n and C th,n constitute the n-th pole of the network [26,27].…”

Section: Curve Fittingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, the analysis was used to examine some failure precursors and then to estimate the useful lifetime of SiC MOSFET modules. A comparison in the area of device reliability accounting for condition monitoring and active thermal control as well as the lifetime was recently carried out [7]. A method to obtain the thermal impedance of a SiC module by combining optical measurement and multi-physics simulations was proposed in [8], where the measurement of the junction temperature was performed by using fiber optic instead of temperature-sensitive electrical parameters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Lifetime Estimation of SiC Power MOSFETs for Motor Drive Applications

et al. 2021

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This work presents a step-by-step procedure to estimate the lifetime of discrete SiC power MOSFETs equipping three-phase inverters of electric drives. The stress of each power device when it is subjected to thermal jumps from a few degrees up to about 80 °C was analyzed, starting from the computation of the average power losses and the commitment of the electric drive. A customizable mission profile was considered where, by accounting the working conditions of the drive, the corresponding average power losses and junction temperatures of the SiC MOSFETs composing the inverter can be computed. The tool exploits the Coffin–Manson theory, rainflow counting, and Miner’s rule for the lifetime estimation of the semiconductor power devices. Different operating scenarios were investigated, underlying their impact on the lifetime of SiC MOSFETs devices. The lifetime estimation procedure was realized with the main goal of keeping limited computational efforts, while providing an effective evaluation of the thermal effects. The method enables us to set up any generic mission profile from the electric drive model. This gives us the possibility to compare several operating scenario of the drive and predict the worse operating conditions for power devices. Finally, although the lifetime estimation tool was applied to SiC power MOSFET devices for a general-purpose application, it can be extended to any type of power switch technology.

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Enhance Reliability of Semiconductor Devices in Power Converters

Cited by 31 publications

References 133 publications

An Integrated Cost-Aware Dual Monitoring Framework for SMPS Switching Device Diagnosis

An Integrated Cost-Aware Dual Monitoring Framework for SMPS Switching Device Diagnosis

Practical Challenges of High-Power IGBT’s I-V Curve Measurement and Its Importance in Reliability Analysis

On the Lifetime Estimation of SiC Power MOSFETs for Motor Drive Applications

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