Impact of Single Event Gate Rupture and Latent Defects on Power MOSFETs Switching Operation

This paper reports on the impact of single event gate rupture and post-irradiation gate stress on Power MOSFETs switching ability. A dedicated setup has been developed and presented in this paper. The data showed that devices can switch after Single Event Gate Rupture. Failure of energy conversion system does not depend on gate current of the device but its associated external circuitry. Moreover, the data showed that devices having a gate layout constituted of parallel stripes are less sensitive than hexagonal shape when electrical constraints are applied after failure. It was also observed that the sensitivity of SEGR can be enhanced by X-ray irradiation but enhanced degradation is not observed during the switching operation.