Towards a new health prognostics method for inverters: Power SiC-GTO failures and its precursors

A device-based health conditions monitoring and diagnosis method for inverters is present. In the inverter, SiCGTO (Gate-Turn-Off Thyristor) is considered as the key device to achieve pulse-width modulation. So the performance degradation of SiC-GTO device induced by interface-states is critical for the health conditions of inverters. In the research, key electrical parameters, including the forward blocking voltage and the dynamic switch characteristics, are evaluated for SiC-GTO device with elevated interface-states density. Results indicate that the forward blocking voltage, turn-on/off speed and gate drive current can be used as precursors for the failure. Based on further study, a test structure and an indirect precursor are developed for feasibly application on health prognostics algorithms (data-driven or physics-based) of failure with interface-states accumulation as a mechanism.

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