Power cycle test with switching losses and integrated hot-spot measurement

Abstract:
The power cycle test is used to determine the lifetime of power semiconductors. To determine the process of aging of the semiconductor module typically Zth measurements or optical/acoustic investigations are necessary, which is often a big effort. This paper presents a new test setup for power cycle investigation with switching losses, blocking voltage and hot-spot detection, revealing delaminations. For the investigation, a not commonly used thermo-sensitive electric parameters (TSEPs) are utilized - the leakage current, which offers a great dependence on the hot-spot temperature.