Query: Power Cycling Reliability of Power Module: A Survey

Candidate papers:

abstract: Electronic devices using semiconductors such as insulated gate bipolar transistors, metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors, and diodes are extensively used in electrical traction applications such as locomotive, elevators, subways, and cars. The long term reliability of such power modules is then highly demanded, and their main reliability criterion is their power cycling capability. Thus, a power cycling test is the most important reliability test for power modules. This test consists in periodically applying a current to a device mounted onto a heat sink. This leads to power loss in the entire module and results in a rise in the semiconductor temperature. In this paper, the different kinds of semiconductors and power modules used for traction applications are described. Experimental and simulation methods employed for power cycling tests are presented. Modules' weak points and fatigue processes are pointed out. Then, a detailed statistical review of publications from 1994 to 2015 dealing with power cycling is presented. This review gives a clear overview of all studies dealing with power cycling that were carried out until now. It reveals the principal trends in power electronic devices and highlights the main reliability issues for which an important lack of knowledge remains.
author_names: C Durand

Markus Klingler

Daniel Coutellier

Hakim Naceur
title: Power Cycling Reliability of Power Module: A Survey
venue: IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability
year: 2016

abstract: Integration of decoupling capacitors into silicon carbide (SiC) metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor mosfet) modules is an advanced solution to mitigate the effect of parasitic inductance induced by module assembly interconnects. In this paper, the switching transient behavior is reported for a 1.2 kV SiC mosfet module with embedded dc link capacitors. It shows faster switching transition and less overshoot voltage compared to a module using an identical package but without capacitors. Active power cycling and passive temperature cycling are carried out for package reliability characterization and comparisons are made with commercial Si and SiC power modules. Scanning acoustic microscopy images and thermal structure functions are presented to quantify the effects of package degradation. The results demonstrate that the SiC modules with embedded capacitors have similar reliability performance to commercial modules and that the reliability is not adversely affected by the presence of the decoupling capacitors.
author_names: Li Yang

Ke Li

Jingru Dai

Martin R Corfield

Anne Harris

Krzysztof Paciura

John O'Brien

C Mark Johnson
title: Electrical Performance and Reliability Characterization of a SiC MOSFET Power Module With Embedded Decoupling Capacitors
venue: IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics
year: 2018

abstract: This article presents an idea of achieving reliability through Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for industrial power systems. It proposes hybrid approach for predictive and corrective maintenance. It discusses the self corrective maintenance (SCM) paradigm as hybrid approach for industrial power systems along with condition based maintenance approach utilizing IIoT to achieve it. As it is well known that industries pay huge penalty for the down time, and suffer to meet reliability demands for years. Study witnesses its cost in millions of dollars yearly for production disruptions. It can be prevented by proactively following the aggressive maintenance schedule. However, it often becomes expensive as part or service may not be utilized for its full life and failure may occur even in middle of maintenance cycle. On the other hand, condition based maintenance (CBM) helps utilize the full life and prevents the downtime by predicting the failures ahead. This article reviews current maintenance practices followed by industry leaders and a proposal on self corrective maintenance based on condition of restorable resources. It is about learning the condition of subsystems by itself and taking corrective action when subsystem is not active. This concept helps reduce manual intervention to correct the problem as well as the maintenance cost. This research also covers the self uncorrectable issues to be handled by proactively following CBM process through IIoT. This hybrid proposal could be a significant gear shift in maintenance direction for general industry as well as power systems. It can be termed as industry's 5th revolution or Industry 5.0.
author_names: Ashok Prajapati

Robert G Arno

N E Dowling

William J Moylan
title: Enhancing Reliability of Power Systems through IIoT Survey and Proposal
venue: 2019 IEEE/IAS 55th Industrial and Commercial Power Systems Technical Conference (I&CPS)
year: 2019

abstract: The thermal cycling reliability of candidate copper and aluminium power substrates has been assessed for use at temperatures exceeding 300degC peak using a combination of thermal cycling, nanoindentation and finite element modelling to understand the relative stresses and evolution of the mechanical properties. The results include the relative cycling lifetimes up to 350degC, demonstrating almost an order of magnitude higher lifetime for active metal brazed Al AlN substrates over Cu Si 3 N 4 but four times more severe roughening and cracking of the Ni P plating's on the Al AlN (DBA) substrates. The nonlinear finite element modelling illustrated that the yield strength of the metal and the thickness of the ceramic are the main stress controlling factors, but comparisons with the cycling lifetime results demonstrated that the fracture toughness (resistance) of the ceramic is the over riding controlling factor for the overall passive thermal cycling lifetimes. In order to achieve the highest substrate lifetime for the highly stressed high temperature thermal cycled applications, the optimum solution appears to be annealed copper, brazed on to a thicker than normal or higher fracture toughness Si 3 N 4 ceramic.
author_names: Dean Hamilton

Liam Mills

James Bowen

M R Jennings

Philip A Mawby
title: High temperature reliability of power module substrates
year: 2015

abstract: Prognostic health monitoring technologies, which can evaluate performance degradation, load history, and degree of fatigue, have the potential to improve the effective maintenance, reliability design methods, and availability under improper use conditions of electronics systems. We propose a method to assess the thermal fatigue life and thermal load history under asymmetric cycles of a power electronics module by using finite element method based Lagrangian neural networks. We apply this method to an insulated gate bipolar transistor power module with a temperature history monitoring function. It is shown that this method can estimate the inelastic strain cycles and thermal fatigue life distribution of the solder joints from temperature monitoring history. It is also confirmed that probabilistic load assessment of thermal cyclic load distributions can be conducted using the estimated inelastic strain cycles. It is concluded that the proposed method could be effective for assessing thermal load history and thermal fatigue life estimation in prognostic health monitoring.
author_names: H Uehara

Tomoko Monda

A Kano

Tomoya Fumikura

Kenji Hirohata
title: Prognostic Health Monitoring Method For Thermal Fatigue Failure Of Power Module Solder Joints Using The Grain Boundary Sliding Model
venue: 2021 International Conference on Electronics Packaging (ICEP)
year: 2021

abstract: In renewable energy and grid applications, solder attached power modules are subject to fatigue stress cycles of low amplitudes, but the devices will be in service for decades. This article aims to understand the slow aging process by focusing on the initial defects and their growth under the stress cycles of concern. A finite element analysis (FEA) is performed to obtain the thermomechanical stress distribution around the defects, which is combined with the solder material's property to give a lifetime model. Effort is made to validate the model by power cycling plus microscale computed tomography (CT) scanning. It is found that a void in the solder layer may first transform into a crack on the material boundary, which then grows progressively more rapidly until device failure. A numerical example is shown for evaluating the lifetime of an IGBT power module in a "soft open point" (SOP) converter designed for an 11 kV power network.
author_names: Borong Hu

Sylvia Konaklieva

Nadia Kourra

Mark A Williams

Li Ran

Wei Lai
title: Long Term Reliability Evaluation of Power Modules With Low Amplitude Thermomechanical Stresses and Initial Defects
venue: IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics
year: 2021

abstract: The goal of this study was to understand the power cycling reliability of IGBT power modules. These power modules are made up of multi layer stacks and consist of multiple power dice in parallel. The interconnection schemes within the module include leadframes soldered to substrate, die attachment using solder and wirebonds. Thermal and power cycling fatigues material interfaces because of the CTE mismatch between dissimilar materials. In addition, wirebonds on the dice are prone to debonding because of the thermally induced stresses. Tests were designed to understand the power cycling reliability of these large transistor modules. Results from the tests are summarized in this paper.
author_names: Venkateswara Anand Sankaran

Chingchi Chen

C S Avant

X Xu
title: Power cycling reliability of IGBT power modules
venue: IAS '97. Conference Record of the 1997 IEEE Industry Applications Conference Thirty Second IAS Annual Meeting
year: 1997

abstract: This paper characterizes thermal and reliability performance of a SiC MOSFET power module with embedded decoupling capacitors and without anti parallel diodes. Active and passive temperature cycling, supported by transient thermal impedance characterisation and scanning acoustic microscopy, are used to evaluate key degradation mechanisms. The forward voltage drop of the body diode is used as a thermo sensitive electrical parameter to estimate the junction temperature and the thermal structure function is analysed to elucidate the degradation in the heat flow path inside the module. Comparisons are made with commercial Si IGBT power modules.
author_names: Li Yang

Pearl A Agyakwa

Martin R Corfield

Mark Johnson

Anne Harris

Matthew Packwood

Krzysztof Paciura
title: Comparison of thermal and reliability performance between a SiC MOSFET module with embedded decoupling capacitors and commercial Si IGBT power modules
year: 2018

abstract: Solder attached IGBT power modules are widely use in renewable energy and smart grid applications where the thermomechanical stress cycles are relatively low in amplitude but the service duties of the devices are expected to last for decades. Although the initial defect voids and cracks in the solder layer are widely recognized as the triggers of initial aging, it is still necessary to describe and simulate the physical fatigue behavior in their local regions accurately under low amplitude stress cycling. In order to investigate the growth of the damage, in this paper a 2D symmetrical finite element analysis (FEA) model is developed to evaluate the thermo mechanical behavior of the solder layer with initial defects, and this is verified by a combination of power cycling test and micro resolution computed tomography (CT) scanning. The modeling and its experimental validation provides an understanding that the voids distributed in the solder layer may transfer into initial cracks which then grow progressively rapidly; the voids adjacent to the chip solder interface will particularly reduce the lifetime. This establishes the basis of a modeling theory for further investigation of the damage progress on solder interface.
author_names: Borong Hu

Sylvia Konaklieva

Li Ran

Nadia Kourra

Mark A Williams

Wei Lai

Philip A Mawby
title: Long Term Reliability of Power Modules with Low Amplitude Thermomechanical Stresses and Initial Defects
venue: 2018 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE)
year: 2018

abstract: The success of the high temperature power electronic applications depends on the power device reliability. The increasing thermal demands, like in hybrid electric cars, require power devices operating at junction temperatures above their common level of 125 degC. The thermal cycles generated in standard modules in such conditions induce several failure mechanisms in their package and chips. This article presents ageing tests of an EconoPIM IGBT module submitted to PWM power cycling at high ambient temperature. Several electrical and thermal parameters are monitored to detect failure onsets in the module components. Static and dynamic measurements are periodically made to reveal possible module characteristic drifts, and to better understand the effects of this kind of cycling test on the module static and switching behaviors. The follow up of the dynamic parameter evolution represents the originality of this study.
author_names: M Tounsi

Amrane Oukaour

Boubekeur Tala-Ighil

Hamid Gualous

Bertrand Boudart

Djamil Aissani
title: Characterization of high voltage IGBT module degradations under PWM power cycling test at high ambient temperature
venue: Microelectron. Reliab.
year: 2010