Finite Element Modeling of IGBT Modules to Explore the Correlation between Electric Parameters and Damage in Bond Wires

This paper proposes a method to identify damage-sensitive electrical parameters (DESPs) for insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) bond wires. Multiphysics simulations are performed to emulate the realistic electrical, thermal and mechanical behaviors of IGBT module. Temperature-dependent material properties are considered in silicon chips and aluminum bond wires. Steady-state electro-thermo-mechanical simulation results of IGBT modules in a given collector current are presented. The degradation mechanisms of wire-bonding crack propagation and complete lift-off are explored. Simulations are validated through the power cycling tests. The trend of measured forward voltage V
_CE(on)
is similar to the simulation result. The modeling method and results can be used to evaluate the health status of IGBT module bond wires.