Rugged Electrical Power Switching in Semiconductors: A Systems Approach

Current status of wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor material technology is evaluated for developing high-performance and reliable power electronics switching converters. The study takes into account field reliability of silicon power metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) in compact computer/telecom power supplies where residual material defects present in the silicon space-charge region were found to generate local microplasma that eventually caused power MOSFETs to fail under long-term repetitive field-switching conditions. It is shown that silicon power MOSFETs with increased low-level leakage currents are more prone to field failures in high-density power supplies. A new single-event burnout (SEB) stress testing methodology is proposed; the SEB stress test results are shown to correlate well with silicon power MOSFET failures in power supply circuits. Based on these results and the current state of the art of silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) power devices, a “reliability-driven” manufacturing approach is recommended for rapid commercialization and market penetration of WBG semiconductor power devices.