Acoustic emission for state-of-health determination in power modules

Abstract

In this article, a new method to measure fatigue mechanisms in standard module technology of semiconductor power devices is investigated. Power modules are used in a wide field of applications, like the automotive industry or as switch converter in wind turbines. Over a certain amount of time the modules will degrade and fail. To detect this degradation we used the principle of acoustic emission. The Acoustic Emission Method can be the first approach for On line Measurement of the State-of-Health of a Power module. Our results have shown that observing the ageing process of the whole power module is possible with this method.