Impact of Short-circuit events on Lifetime Expectancy of SiC MOSFETs

The Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a "new" material that offers very high performance, but the lifetime of components (in this case SiC MOSFET) are not sufficient and is shorter than the Silicon (Si) counterparts. The power cycling test is the best and the main way to extract the lifetime of a component. It can be performed in AC or DC mode, in this project the focus is on the DC mode. For the components made with Silicon Carbide (SiC) the expected lifetime is not reaching the theoretical value, due to problems during the manufacturing procedure and to the not clear failure mechanisms. This project aims to find if the lifetime of a SiC MOSFET, at which a no destructive stress has been performed (in this case the stress is a short-circuit with energy below the critical value), lays between the life time of a no damage component and a damage component. The power cycling are performed in a AC machine, adapted to work in DC mode, to do that a load adaptor has been developed.