Partial Discharge Behaviour Analysis of Silicon Nitride Ceramics

Silicon nitride ceramic, one of the most promising power electronics carrier board materials, is examined nondestructively by means of partial discharge measurement in this work. A variety of sample-electrode combinations is evaluated regarding inferences about characterization of the ceramics as well as the field application of power electronics carrier boards. It is shown that electrode type, substrate thickness and ceramic material in combination with the manufacturing process influence the partial discharge occurrence characteristics. Furthermore, pulse sequence analysis is shown as an in-depth tool for the analysis of partial discharge data acquired from ceramic substrates.