A. Hamidi et G. Coquery, EFFECTS OF CURRENT-DENSITY AND CHIP TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION ON LIFETIME OF HIGH-POWER IGBT MODULES IN TRACTION WORKING-CONDITIONS, Microelectronics and reliability, 37(10-11), 1997, pp. 1755-1758
This paper deals with ageing parameters of high power IGBT modules in
traction applications. Using the results of a great number of power cy
cling tests on 400A modules, it shows that, in addition to the junctio
n temperature excursion, other parameters like the maximal chip temper
ature and the current density are involved in thermal fatigue failures
. Besides, contact temperature measurements achieved on IGBT chip surf
ace in cycling conditions to localise the maximal thermomechanical str
ess are presented and correlated with modules failure analysis. The ro
le of the current density in the ageing process is finally shown by de
termining its influence on the temperature gradient on chip surface. (
C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.