Characterization of Total Safe Operating Area of Lateral DMOS Transistors

The total safe operating area (SOA) of LDMOS transistors is discussed. It is shown that the transistors are subjected to different kinds of stresses, yielding a combination of electrical and thermal degradation and/or failure modes. A methodology to build the total SOA for LDMOS transistors is highlighted and is experimentally verified on a 40-V LDMOS implemented in a