Effects of current and bonding wires damage on high-power IGBT module reliability by electro-thermo-mechanical simulation

For the purpose of studying the reliability of the heavy bonding wires fatigue damage in Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT), the Finite Element Methods (FEM) of the crack damage of the bonding-wire and different current load have been carried out. As a precise approximation to real damage, the crack was established by deviating about 10μm upwards away from the interface between the Silicon chip and Al bonding-wire in 3D model. Based on the FEM, the influence of the length and location of the bonding-wire crack on the electrical parameters, temperature, strain and stress of the IGBT module is investigated. In addition, the correlation between reliability and current, lifetime and crack ratio in bonding wires of IGBT module were explored based on steady-state electro-thermo-mechanical simulation results, which provides practical guide for IGBT module reliability analysis and the remaining life prediction.