A study of the bonding-wire reliability on the chip surface electrode in IGBT

The reliability of IGBT chip surface electrode for bonding-wires is described. The power cycling (P/C) capability of an IGBT module is improved due to a suppression of chip surface aluminum (Al) electrode degradation with Nickel (Ni) plating. The P/C capability obtained with the Ni plating electrode is about 3 times higher than that with the Al electrode at a high temperature condition. Such a good performance comes from the barrier property of the Ni plating layer.