Test bench for thermal cycling of 10 kV silicon carbide power modules

This paper presents a test bench for lifetime investigation of 10 kV silicon carbide power modules. The test bench subjects high voltage switching operation to the modules while power cycling. Thus both a thermal and electrical operating point is emulated. The power cycling setup features offline measurement of on-state voltages and direct real-time measurement of die surface temperatures, enabled by fiber optical sensors, which are built into the power modules. A thermal model of the module prototypes, based on the temperature measurements, is established. Independent verification steps have been made to validate the performance of the on-state voltage measurement and the thermal model. Issues are revealed in the form of common mode currents in gate drive supply, which should be remedied. Finally a new operating point for power cycling is suggested to better stress the power modules.