Measuring and testing – Miscellaneous
Patent
1997-03-04
1999-03-02
Biegel, Ronald L.
Measuring and testing
Miscellaneous
324769, 324765, G01R 3126
Patent
active
058774190
ABSTRACT:
A method which exploits the phenomenon that an increase of the collector-emitter voltage U.sub.CE of a semiconductor power component during a load change test can be correlated with the service life expectancy of the relevant IGBT module. A method for estimating the service life of a power semiconductor component, comprising the steps of subjecting the component to a periodic load change, measuring an electrical parameter P of the component that serves as an indicator for reliability or durability against the number N of load changes, calculating a derivative dP/dN of the electrical parameter P according to the number N of load changes; and comparing the derivative dP/dN with a target value representing a determined service life. The characteristic "longer-lived than a reference module" or, respectively, "more resistant to failure" can be allocated to a test module if the derivatives of the respective voltage U.sub.CE satisfy the condition (dU.sub.CE /dN).sub.Test <(dU.sub.CE /dN).sub.Ref after the number N of load changes.
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Amrozowicz Paul D.
Biegel Ronald L.
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