Virtual testing of high power devices at the rim of the safe operating area and beyond

The development of high-performance power devices is increasingly supported by predictive computer simulations on the basis of well-calibrated physical device models. Today's challenge is to make virtual experiments and tests on the computer, which are qualitatively reliable and quantitatively accurate even for device structures that have never been built before, and under operational conditions that very rarely occur as long as the device is kept within the “safe operating area (SOA)”. What we are interested in is to explore the rim of the SOA and even to go beyond it in order to study failure and, eventually, destruction mechanisms with a view to improving robustness and reliability of the devices. In particular in the field of high power electronics, predictive high-fidelity computer simulations of “virtual desctruction” are of utmost importance. We will illustrate today's state of the art with reference to selected real-life examples.