Radiation Hardness of Si- and SiC-Power-MOSFETs in Particle Accelerator Environments

A model to quantify the probability of an single event burnout (SEB) in a silicon-carbide MOSFET was developed in dependence of neutron spectrum and chip volume. A test setup with each 20 silicon- and silicon-carbide MOSFETs was installed for 177 days in the tunnel of a heavy ion synchrotron accelerator in order to conduct a blocking test and verify the prediction model. The leakage current of each MOSFETs was examined. Three Si-MOSFETs suffered from a SEB. These three MOSFETs were x-rayed and a microsection sample was taken.