Investigation of failure mechanisms in power VDMOSFETs

The specific application of power devices has imposed the requirement for intensive investigation of their reliability. In this paper we have investigated failure mechanisms in power VDMOSFETs subjected to HTRB (High-Temperature-Reverse-Bias) test at different temperatures. It has been found that electromigration at the source/drain contacts, intermetallic processes at the solder joint and gate oxide breakdown are the major failure mechanisms limiting the reliability of investigated devices.