EPC issues tenth reliability report, highlighting GaN device testing beyond automotive AECQ101 qualification

Efficient Power Conversion Corp (EPC) of El Segundo, CA, USA – which makes enhancement-mode gallium nitride on silicon (eGaN) power field-effect transistors (FETs) for power management applications –has announced its Phase Ten Reliability Report, documenting the test results leading to the completion of automotive AEC-Q101 qualification.

AEC-Q101 demands the highest level of reliability standards for power FETs, requiring not only zero datasheet failures but also low parametric drift during stress testing. EPC’s wafer-level chip-scale packaging (WLCS) passed all the same testing standards created for conventionally packaged parts, demonstrating that the superior performance of chip-scale packaging does not compromise ruggedness or reliability.

The report also explores reliability testing that goes beyond the AEC-Q101 requirement to develop a deeper understanding of unique mechanisms that could lead to device failure. A section is devoted to examining the extremes of dynamic RDS(on) testing during hard-switching conditions. This testing demonstrates that eGaN devices are stable over long-term continuous switching operation, says EPC.

A third section expands on the accelerated stress testing previously explored in the EPC Phase 6 report. Beyond gate leakage being monitored continuously, other device parameters (VTH and IDSS) are logged on regular intervals. This kind of data gives a more complete picture of device degradation under high-gate-stress conditions and provides visibility to multiple independent physical failure mechanisms. Testing demonstrates that eGaN FET gates are very rugged and reliable. “eGaN devices have been in volume production for over nine years and have demonstrated very high reliability in both laboratory testing and customer applications such as LiDAR [light detection & ranging] for autonomous cars, 4G base stations and satellites to name just a few,” says CEO & co-founder Dr Alex Lidow. “In fact, there have been no field failures in over two years despite shipping millions of parts.”

“With the release of this reliability report, we continue our commitment to subject GaN devices to rigid industry standards and share the results with the power conversion industry − as confirmed with over 30,000 EPC parts stress-tested for more than 18 million hours without failure,” Lidow continues. “The Phase Ten Reliability Report adds to the growing knowledge base published in EPC’s first nine reports and represents an ongoing commitment to study, learn and share information on the reliability of GaN technology.

See related items:

Further EPC eGaN FETs now AEC-qualified for automotive power systems

EPC completes automotive AEC Q101 qualification for first two eGaN devices

EPC publishes reliability report after 8 million GaN device hours of stress testing

Tags: EPC E-mode GaN FETs GaN-on-Si

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