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Francesco Iannuzzo - VPPC 2021

Francesco Iannuzzo

Professor, Reliable Power Electronics

Keynote Speaker

Title: Implication of Wear and Abnormal Events on The Reliability of SiC MOSFETs for Automotive

Abstract: Thanks to the unprecedented potential in terms of efficiency compared with silicon counterparts, silicon carbide (SiC) devices have quickly become an enabling technology for Electric Vehicles. However, the critical manufacturing process required to fabricate SiC MOSFETs raises concerns for long-term reliability. On top of that, short-circuit is one of the most critical aspects because of the huge power density compared to e.g., silicon IGBTs.

The speech presents first the degradation indicators under both wear and short-circuit conditions. Afterwards, an original mixed power-cycling/short-circuit test approach is presented, to investigate the implications of short-circuit events on the expected life. Results of failure analysis (lock-in thermography, focused ion beam, and scanning electron microscope) are also presented along with a transient thermo-mechanical simulation based on finite-element analysis. Finally, a mitigation strategy to enhance short-circuit robustness is proposed.

Bio: Francesco Iannuzzo is currently a professor at the Aalborg University, Denmark, where he is also part of CORPE (Center of Reliable Power Electronics). His research interests are in the field of reliability of power devices, including mission-profile-based life estimation, condition monitoring, failure modeling, and testing up to MW-scale modules under extreme conditions, like overvoltage, overcurrent, overtemperature, and short circuit. He is the author or co-author of +250 publications on journals and international conferences, three book chapters, and four patents. He has edited the recently-published Modern power electronic devices: physics, applications, and reliability book. Besides publication activity, over the past years, he has been invited for several technical seminars about reliability at first conferences as ISPSD, EPE, ECCE, PCIM, and APEC. Prof. Iannuzzo is the founder of the newborn Power Electronic Devices and Components journal with Elsevier and serves as Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics, and Elsevier Microelectronics Reliability. He is the vice-president of the IEEE IAS Power Electronic Devices and Components Committee. He was the general chair of ESREF 2018, the 29th European Symposium on Reliability of Electron Devices, Failure physics, and analysis, and has been appointed EPE-ECCE Europe General Chair in 2023.

Sessions