SiC power devices packaging with a short-circuit failure mode capability

Ilyas Dchar (1, 2) , Cyril Buttay (2) , Hervé Morel (2)

1 SuperGrid Institute SAS
2 EE - Ampère, Département Energie Electrique

The failure mode of press-pack-type packages dedicated to SiC devices is experimentally analyzed in order to investigate their use for HVDC applications. Single SiC Schottky diode samples have been submitted to short-circuit conditions and continuous current flow test. The samples have been then characterized with optical and scanning electronic microscopy. Results from the experiments reveal that the press-pack structure offers a short-circuit failure mode with SiC devices, as it does for Si devices. The metallurgy involved is, however, quite different. Cu, Ni, Ag or Al foils are found to be suitable interface material between the package and the die to achieve a stable a short-circuit failure mode, providing the die is properly attached to a substrate.

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]

Ilyas Dchar, Cyril Buttay, Hervé Morel. SiC power devices packaging with a short-circuit failure mode capability. Microelectronics Reliability, 2017, ⟨10.1016/j.microrel.2017.07.003⟩. ⟨hal-01562547⟩