Failure characteristics of discrete power semiconductor packages exceeding electrical specifications

The failure characteristics of power semiconductors determine necessary protection elements and fault-tolerance of the total system. To obtain information on failure characteristics, several low voltage power MOSFETs with different packages, manufacturers and voltage ratings are deliberately destroyed by exceeding the electrical parameters gate- and drain-source voltage. Furthermore, the stability of MOSFETs during a capacitor discharging depending on the amount of stored energy is investigated, which is necessary for successful level reduction in multilevel converters. The research focuses on the device behaviour after failure depending on the package technology to give a design hint for fault-tolerant applications.