Full-Area 3D Simulation and Experimental Analysis of IGBT Failure in UIS Due to Current Filamentation

In spite of the importance of a detailed description of the filamentary current constriction of the IGBT during the turn-off operation that could lead to the device’s failure, there are to date no quantitative 3D simulation results of the filament growth and dynamic that can be compared with experimental results. In this paper we present 3D numerical simulations on the failure mode in the Unclamped Inductance Switching (UIS) test operation, extended to the full device area, which will be usefully compared with detailed experimental results on a large number of trench IGBT test samples. For the first time extended 3D dynamic electrothermal simulations of the whole die are made, to take into account both the electric and thermal effects of the filamentary conduction in avalanche mode. The onset of a filament growth condition for a current level just above the turnover voltage evaluated by the 3D simulations, and the area of the filament, obtained for the first time, are well in agreement with the quantitative data extracted by the experimental evaluations. Moreover, the thermal heating due to the filament formation is found to be quite independent from the current level, because it depends on the current density in the filament, rather than on the injected current. The delay time between the filament formation and the final failure time seen in the experimental results is verified to be due to the movement of the filament all around the chip surface in search of a cooler spot. The movement of the filament along the whole die area is verified for the first time by full area 3D electrothermal dynamic simulations, with times in agreement with the experimental delay between filament formation and final failure seen in all the failure reports.