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Reliability of power electronic devices against cosmic radiation-induced failure

  • Infineon Technologies AG
  • Technical University of Munich

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

43 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cosmic radiation has been identified as a decisive factor for power device reliability. Energetic neutrons create ionizing recoils within the semiconductor substrate which may lead to device burnout. Originally, this failure mechanism was attributed to high voltage devices only. However, the results of accelerated nucleon radiation tests made it clear that cosmic radiation-induced breakdown can no longer be disregarded for the design of power devices of voltages classes as low as 500V. Extensive device simulations supported by ion irradiation experiments gave quantitative results and may in the future allow for a predictive assessment of the cosmic radiation hardness of a specific device design.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1399-1406
Number of pages8
JournalMicroelectronics Reliability
Volume44
Issue number9-11 SPEC. ISS.
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2004

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