Experimental study of single event burnout and single event gate rupture in power MOSFETs and IGBT

An experimental study was carried out to determine the single event burnout and single event gate rupture sensitivities in power MOSFETs and IGBT which were exposed to heavy ions from 252 Cf source, presented were, the test method, test results, a description of observed burnout current waveforms and a discussion of a possible failure mechanism. Current measurements have been performed with a specially designed circuit. The test results include the observed dependence upon applied drain or gate to source bias and versus with external capacitors and limited resistors.