Accelerated degradation data of SiC MOSFETs for lifetime and Remaining Useful Life assessment

Abstract : The phenomenon of threshold voltage instability has been reported to be a critical issue for the first generation of commercial SiC MOSFETs. For aeronautic mission profile, the long term reliability of such device has to be estimated prior to any integration. As far as the author knows, this paper proposes one of the first attempts to use a non-homogeneous gamma process to model the threshold voltage degradation of a commercial SiC MOSFET. Such approach allows evaluating the time to failure as well as it distribution thanks to the proposed Acceleration degradation testing methodology. All the data collected during the ageing tests will be used to model an acceleration factor and to extrapolate the Time-To-Failure in a given application. Ultimately, the use of gamma process to evaluate the Remaining Useful Life of electronic component is described as a first step toward prognostic of Remaining Useful Life in embedded power electronics.