Reliability characterization and FEM modeling of power devices under repetitive power pulsing

In this work a combined experimental/numerical approach to describe the thermo-mechanical behavior of power devices under repetitive power pulsing is presented. Stress tests have been carried out on power DMOS implemented in Smart Power BCD technology with different Back-End Of Line (BEOL) schemes, including, for the first time, full Copper. Mechanical laboratory nano-indentation tests have been used to determine constituent properties of the metal layers. Thermo-mechanical 3D FEM modeling has been used to simulate a multi-cycle thermal loading of a whole power device with its package. Results from simulation have been qualitatively compared to experimental results. © 2013 IEEE.