Life-Time Estimation of Modern Power Electronics Devices

Due to the increasing advancements in power devices, especially in Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT) technology, switching of kV and kA within μs is possible. Thereby a dissipation power up to 400W per chip is generated. Compared to the switched power, the dissipated power is still marginal. However, considering the area within this power is generated (< 2cm2), a significant heat density and thus high temperature especially within the chip is generated. To keep the maximal junction temperature (Tj,max) within the allowed range, reliable, thermally convenient packaging and interconnection concepts are necessary. Furthermore, power devices find increasingly application in automobile industry, where they have to fulfil high reliability requirements under harsh environmental conditions during their service lifetime of approx. 15 years.