Power MOSFET failure mechanisms

Power MOSFET failure mechanisms are reviewed and discussed with emphasis on the parasitic bipolar transistor (BJT) turn on. The first two failure mechanisms reviewed result from high dV/sub DS//dt. The third failure mechanism results from the slow reverse recovery of the MOSFET body diode and the fourth is a single event breakdown due to inadequate voltage derating of the MOSFET. A condition for the parasitic BJT turn on is derived and used to discuss the failure mechanisms.