Investigation of the surge characteristics of power rectifiers and thyristors in large area press packages

In this paper the effects that packaging have on thermal cycling in both steady state and surge operation will be investigated. A comparison between theoretical and experimental data on forward drop and temperature rise in surge tests will be given. A theoretical study will then be presented which shows the effects that package variations have on device ratings and the size of thermal excursions The study shows that significant improvements in both steady state and surge device properties can be achieved through advances in packaging techniques.