The Library

Reliability of repetitively avalanched wire-bonded low-voltage discrete power trench n-MOSFETs

Tools

Alatise, Olayiwola M., Kennedy, Ian, Petkos, George and Koh, Adrian. (2011) Reliability of repetitively avalanched wire-bonded low-voltage discrete power trench n-MOSFETs. IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability, Vol.11 (No.1). pp. 157-163. ISSN 1530-4388

Preview

PDF
WRAP_Alatise_1070562-es-091211-ieee_tdmr_reliability_avalanched_power_mosfet.pdf - Accepted Version - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Download (1093Kb)

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TDMR.2010.2102026

Abstract

This paper, for the first time, investigates the reliability of wire-bonded low-voltage discrete power trench n-MOSFETs that have been subjected to repetitive unclamped inductive switching (RUIS). Automotive MOSFETs driving inductive loads may be subjected to RUIS; hence, there is a need to characterize the failure mechanisms in such applications. The failure mechanisms of repetitively avalanched wire-bonded MOSFETs are shown to be wire-bond lift-off and source metal degradation/fatigue due to thermomechanical stress cycling. Temperature excursions from avalanche pulses cause thermomechanical stresses on the wire-bond/source-metal interface as a result of differences in thermal expansion coefficients between silicon and aluminum. Trench MOSFETs exhibited an average of 10% increase in on-state resistance due to source metal fatigue after 100 million cycles of repetitive avalanche. The number of cycles to failure is investigated as a function of the avalanched induced temperature changes and is shown to follow the Coffin-Manson law. These results are important for designers of automotive systems since they are capable of predicting the long-term reliability of wire-bonded discrete power semiconductor components.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
Divisions:	Faculty of Science > Engineering
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors, Wire bonding (Electronic packaging)
Journal or Publication Title:	IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability
Publisher:	IEEE
ISSN:	1530-4388
Official Date:	March 2011
Volume:	Vol.11
Number:	No.1
Page Range:	pp. 157-163
Identification Number:	10.1109/TDMR.2010.2102026
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
References:	[1] I. Pawel, R. Siemieniec, M. Rosch, F. Hirler, and R. Herzer, ―Experimental study and simulations on two different avalanche modes in trench power MOSFETs,‖ IET Circuits Devices Syst., vol. 1, no. 5, pp. 341–346, Oct. 2007. [2] A. Koh, Power MOSFET Single and Repetitive Avalanche Ruggedness Rating, 2003, Application note AN10273. [3] T. Matsunaga and S. Sudo, ―Evaluation of fatigue life reliability and new lead bonding technology for power modules,‖ Mitsubishi Electr. Adv., vol. 113, pp. 13–16, 2006, Technical Reports. [4] V Getkin, A Bar-Cohen, S Witzman ―Coffin-Manson based fatigue analysis of underfilled DCAs‖ IEEE Transaction on Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 577-584, Dec. 1998. [5] A. Testa, S. D. Caro, S. Panarello, S. Patane, R. Letor, S. Russo, S. Poma and D. Patti, ―Stress analysis and lifetime estimation on power MOSFETs for automotive ABS systems,‖ in Proc. IEEE Power Electron. Spec. Conf., 2008, pp. 1169–1175. [6] C Santoro, ―Thermal cycling and surface reconstruction in aluminum thin films‖, J. Electrochem. Soc, vol. 116, no. 3, pp. 361-364, 1969. [7] M Arab and Z Khatir, ―Investigations on ageing of IGBTs under repetitive short-circuit operations‖, Power electronics Europe, issue 5, pp. 22-24, 2008. [8] W. Loh, M. Corfield, H. Lu, S. Hogg, T. Tilford, and C. Johnson, ―Wirebond for power electronic modules—Effect of bonding temperature,‖ in Proc. Int. Conf. Thermal, Mech. Multi-Phys. Simul. Experiments Microelectron. Micro-Syst., EuroSime, 2007, pp. 1–6. [9] A Hamidi, N Beck, K Thomas and E Herr, ―Reliability and lifetime evaluation of different wirebonding technologies for high power IGBT modules‖ Microelectronics Reliability, vol. 39, issues 6-7, pp. 1153-1158, 2008. [10] T Matsunaga and Y Uegai, ―Thermal fatigue life evaluation of aluminum wire bonds ―Reliability of wire-bonding and solder joint for high temperature operation of power semiconductor device‖, Microelectronics Reliability, vol. 47, no. 12, pp. 2147-2151, 2007. [11] J Calata, L Guo-Quan and C Luechinger, ―Evaluation of interconnect technologies for power semiconductor devices‖ The 8th intersociety conference on thermal and thermomechanical phenomena in electronic systems, 2002, pp. 1089-1096. [12] J Onuki, M Koizumi and M Suwa, ―Reliability of thick Al wire bonds in IGBT modules for traction motor drives‖, IEEE Trans. Advanced Packaging, vol. 23, no. 1, 2000. [13] R Amro, ―Packaging and interconnection technologies of power devices, Challenges and future trends‖, World academy of science, engineering and technology, 49, pp. 691-694, 2009. [14] B Bernoux, R Escoffier, P Jalbaud, J Reynes, E Scheid and J Dorkel, ―Power MOSFET RDSON under repetitive avalanche cycling‖ IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics,2009, pp. 2016-2019. [15] D Sornette, T Magnin and Y Brechet, ―The physical origin of the Coffin-Manson Law in low-cycle fatigue‖, Europhysics Lett, 20 (5), pp. 433-438, 1992. [16] H Cui, ―Accelerated temperature cycle test and Coffin-Manson model for electronic packaging‖, in proc Reliability and Maintainability Symposium, 2005, pp. 556-560.
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/37119