Thermography Analysis of Automotive SiC Power Modules for Reliability Assessment

This paper presents an experimental thermographic analysis of a directly-cooled silicon-carbide based power module, designed for automotive traction applications. The aim of this activity is related to one of the reliability assessments executed on power MOSFETs arranged in this package, named active power cycle. In this framework, thermo-sensitive electrical parameters (TSEPs) are commonly used to estimate the junction temperature of power devices. In the paper, the TSEP related to the body diode voltage drop is compared with the results obtained by using a high frame-rate thermal camera. Moreover, the heat propagation inside the module during the heating phase is showed.