A Novel Instrumentation for an Advanced High Temperature Reverse Bias (HTRB) Testing on Power Transistors

In this paper, a novel instrumentation for High Temperature Reverse Bias (HTRB) reliability test on power transistors is presented. The proposed equipment overcomes the drawbacks of the traditional instrumentation (large thermal capacitance, lack of individual thermal control for each sample, no thermal runaway detection), enabling a new methodological approach. Several electrical measurements during the test are allowed. Multiple benefits derive from this new approach: the identification of early warnings in accordance with configurable thresholds of degradation and thermal runaway quenching. Furthermore, the test can be stopped solely for the out-of-specification devices. The instrumentation design and advanced HTRB test method are presented as well as experimental results obtained on Power MOSFETs.