SiC IGBT degradation mechanism investigation under HV-H3TRB tests

The high voltage–high humidity–high temperature reverse bias (HV-H3TRB) test was utilized to evaluate the reliability of silicon carbide insulated gate bipolar transistors (SiC IGBTs). Moisture invasion often induces termination/passivation and metal corrosion. Therefore, the HV-H3TRB test is generally used to assess termination / passivation robustness. However, under the HV-H3TRB test conditions, gate quality degradation may occur. In this study, the dominant degradation mechanism of SiC IGBTs was investigated. The changes of the most sensitive static characteristics (e.g., threshold voltage, breakdown voltage, and leakage current) were recorded. The threshold voltage decreased and leakage current increased substantially after > 1000 h of HV-H3TRB tests under 85 ℃/85% RH climate conditions. Capacitance–voltage ( C–V ) curve measurements indicated that the mobile ions at the SiC/SiO 2 interface or in the gate oxide likely caused the threshold-voltage instability in the SiC IGBTs after the HV-H3TRB tests. This instability can be recovered by applying a negative gate bias. Subsequent failure analysis confirmed no corrosion of metals or termination/passivation in the device, which indicates the robustness of the passivation (consisting of phosphor-silicate glass and Si 3 N 4 ). Therefore, the gate quality appears to be a significant reliability risk for SiC IGBTs under high humidity, high temperature, and high voltage conditions.