Neutron Irradiation Induced Single-Event Burnout of IGBT

In this paper, accelerated irradiation test of 4.5kV IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) was carried out by an atmospheric neutron irradiation instrument based on China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS). The experiment confirmed atmospheric neutron irradiation caused single-event failure of the IGBTs. The IGBT failure occurred as the collector voltage increased to a critical value. The failure mechanism of 4.5kV IGBT under neutron irradiation was investigated by Sentaurus TCAD simulation. The simulation results indicate that with the increase of applied collector voltage, IGBT has a propensity to destruct, and the single-event burnout (SEB) occurs when a certain threshold is exceeded. The change of electric field distribution reveals that the root causes of SEB in IGBT are the avalanche multiplication effect and parasitic thyristor latch-up. In addition, the influence of different structural parameters on the burnout threshold is discussed, which provides ideas for the anti-radiation reinforcement of IGBT.