Evaluation system for space single particle failure of power device

Abstract

The invention provides an evaluation system for space single particle failure of a power device, which comprises a multifunctional test board, a power supply bias module and a remote controller, and is characterized in that the multifunctional test board comprises an extensible power device interface used for connecting multiple different types of to-be-tested power devices; the power supply bias module is connected with the multifunctional test board and is used for providing bias voltage for the to-be-tested power device and monitoring current characteristics of the to-be-tested power device; the remote controller is connected with the power supply bias module, and is used for setting a bias voltage corresponding to the power device to be tested, controlling the power supply bias module to provide the bias voltage, obtaining current characteristics, and evaluating the space single particle failure of the power device to be tested according to the bias voltage and the current characteristics; wherein the multifunctional test board and the power supply bias module are arranged in a space single-particle radiation environment, and the remote controller is arranged outside the space single-particle radiation environment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application mainly relates to the field of spacecraft device evaluation, and in particular to an evaluation system for single particle failure in space of power devices. Background Art

[0002] Semiconductor power devices have been widely used in the fields of electricity, industry, and communications. Power devices such as power MOSFET are widely used in spacecraft. However, the working environment of spacecraft is different from that of the ground. In the space radiation environment, radiation particles incident on the power MOSFET will cause single event effects in the device. Common types of single event failures of power MOSFET are single event burnout (SEB) and single event gate rupture (SEGR).

[0003] Conducting irradiation tests simulating space radiation particles on the ground is an effective means to evaluate the sensitivity of power MOSFET to space SEB and SEGR effects. The currently commonly used ground simulation test evaluation method for single-particle effects of power MOSFET is to place the device under test in the irradiation hall, provide a certain bias setting to the device under test, provide a particle beam to the device under test, and judge whether the power MOSFET has a single-particle effect by visually observing the video monitoring of the irradiation hall. This simulation test evaluation method has the following four shortcomings. First, the irradiation test board is usually only applicable to a certain type of power MOSFET and is not very versatile; second, changing the bias of the power MOSFET during the irradiation test is time-consuming and laborious, especially when the time for domestic single-particle tests is tight, it is necessary to repeatedly enter the irradiation hall to modify the bias conditions, and the test efficiency is low; third, the test results cannot be intuitively displayed, and only the video monitoring of the irradiation hall can be used to judge whether the power MOSFET has a single-particle effect. Fourth, the applied bias voltage range is small.

[0004] Therefore, it is urgent to provide a technical solution that can overcome the above shortcomings. Summary of the invention

[0005] The technical problem to be solved by the present application is to provide a spatial single-particle failure evaluation system for power devices with high test efficiency.

[0006] To solve the above technical problems, the present application provides an evaluation system for spatial single-particle failure of power devices, comprising: a multifunctional test board, a power bias module and a remote controller, wherein the multifunctional test board includes an expandable power device interface for connecting multiple different types of power devices to be tested; the power bias module is connected to the multifunctional test board, for providing a bias voltage to the power device to be tested and monitoring the current characteristics of the power device to be tested; the remote controller is connected to the power bias module, for setting a bias voltage corresponding to the power device to be tested, controlling the power bias module to provide the bias voltage, and obtaining the current characteristics, and evaluating the spatial single-particle failure of the power device to be tested based on the bias voltage and the current characteristics; wherein the multifunctional test board and the power bias module are arranged in a spatial single-particle radiation environment, and the remote controller is arranged outside the spatial single-particle radiation environment.

[0007] In some embodiments of the present application, the power device to be tested includes a silicon-based MOSFET and a silicon carbide MOSFET.

[0008] In some embodiments of the present application, the spatial single-particle failure includes single-particle burnout and / or single-particle gate penetration.

[0009] In some embodiments of the present application, the remote controller is also configured to: control the gate and source of the power device to be tested to be grounded, and provide a drain voltage to the power device to be tested that gradually increases with a first step length until a single particle burnout occurs in the power device to be tested, at which time the drain voltage is the critical drain bias voltage of the power device to be tested.

[0010] In some embodiments of the present application, the remote controller is further configured to implement the following steps:

[0011] Step S1: controlling the source of the power device to be tested to be grounded;

[0012] Step S2: setting one of the gate voltage and the drain voltage to be fixed, and the other to be gradually increased from an initial value by a second step length, and stopping the current test when the change of the gate current reaches a preset threshold;

[0013] Step S3: increasing the fixed voltage by a third step, and repeating the above steps S2 and S3 until the fixed voltage reaches a preset maximum value.

[0014] In some embodiments of the present application, the second step length and the third step length are both proportional to the thickness of the gate oxide layer of the power device to be tested.

[0015] In some embodiments of the present application, the bias voltage ranges from -1000V to +1000V.

[0016] In some embodiments of the present application, the remote controller is also used to visually display the output characteristic curve and evaluation results of the power device to be tested.

[0017] In some embodiments of the present application, an internal controller is also included in the space single-particle radiation environment, and the internal controller is used to receive commands from the remote controller, and control the power supply bias module to provide the bias voltage according to the commands, and obtain the current characteristics, and send the current characteristics to the remote controller.

[0018] In some embodiments of the present application, the power bias module includes at least 2 digital source meters.

[0019] In some embodiments of the present application, the power device to be tested is a satellite device.

[0020] The spatial single-particle failure evaluation system for power devices of the present application can connect a variety of different types of power devices to be tested by setting an expandable power device interface on a multi-functional test board, so that a variety of different types of power devices can be evaluated using one evaluation system, and the multiplexability is strong; the evaluation system also controls the power bias module through a remote controller, realizes remote control of the power device to be tested, realizes the automation of the test process, reduces human intervention, and greatly improves the test efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present application. They are included and constitute a part of the present application. The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of the present application and together with the present specification serve to explain the principles of the present application. In the accompanying drawings:

[0022] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an evaluation system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an evaluation system according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an evaluation system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 4 It is an output characteristic curve obtained by using the evaluation system of the present application to evaluate and test a 100V power VDMOS device;

[0026] Figure 5This is an output characteristic curve obtained by using the evaluation system of the present application to evaluate a 200V power VDMOS device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some examples or embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, the present application can also be applied to other similar scenarios based on these drawings without creative work. Unless it is obvious from the language environment or otherwise explained, the same reference numerals in the figures represent the same structure or operation.

[0028] As shown in this application and claims, unless the context clearly indicates an exception, the words "a", "an", "an" and / or "the" do not refer to the singular and may also include the plural. Generally speaking, the terms "include" and "comprise" only indicate the inclusion of the steps and elements that have been clearly identified, and these steps and elements do not constitute an exclusive list. The method or device may also include other steps or elements.

[0029] Unless otherwise specifically stated, the relative arrangement, numerical expressions and numerical values ​​of the parts and steps set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present application. At the same time, it should be understood that, for ease of description, the sizes of the various parts shown in the accompanying drawings are not drawn according to the actual proportional relationship. The technology, method and equipment known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant field may not be discussed in detail, but in appropriate cases, the technology, method and equipment should be considered as a part of the authorization specification. In all examples shown and discussed here, any specific value should be interpreted as being merely exemplary, rather than as a limitation. Therefore, other examples of exemplary embodiments may have different values. It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters represent similar items in the following drawings, so that once a certain item is defined in an accompanying drawing, it does not need to be further discussed in subsequent drawings.

[0030] In addition, it should be noted that the use of words such as "first" and "second" to define components is only for the convenience of distinguishing the corresponding components. If not otherwise stated, the above words have no special meaning and cannot be understood as limiting the scope of protection of this application. In addition, although the terms used in this application are selected from well-known and commonly used terms, some terms mentioned in the specification of this application may be selected by the applicant at his or her discretion, and their detailed meanings are explained in the relevant parts of the description of this article. In addition, it is required to understand this application not only by the actual terms used, but also by the meaning implied by each term.

[0031] The spatial single-particle failure evaluation system for power devices of the present application is suitable for evaluating the single-particle failure type of power devices, especially using one evaluation system to evaluate multiple different types of power devices, with strong multiplexability, and by remotely controlling the bias conditions of the power devices, the test efficiency is greatly improved.

[0032] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of an evaluation system according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the evaluation system 100 includes a multifunctional test board 110, a power bias module 120, and a remote controller 130. The multifunctional test board 110 and the power bias module 120 are arranged in a space single particle radiation environment, which can be as follows: Figure 1 The irradiation hall 101 shown may also be other test spaces. In the irradiation hall 101, there are devices that can provide a single-particle radiation environment simulating a space environment, so as to provide a radiation environment similar to space for the power device to be tested. The remote controller 130 is set in an environment other than the space single-particle radiation environment, for example, outside the irradiation hall 101. It can be understood that the irradiation hall 101 has an isolation function to prevent radiation particles in the hall from escaping.

[0033] In the evaluation system 100 , the multifunctional test board 110 includes an expandable power device interface for connecting a plurality of different types of power devices to be tested.

[0034] In some embodiments, the multifunctional test board 110 is specifically implemented as a DUT board. The inventors of the present applicant independently developed an expandable power device interface based on the DUT board, so that one power device interface can be used to connect multiple different types of power devices.

[0035] In some embodiments, since the bias voltage to be provided to each power device for the single particle failure test is relatively high, for example, more than hundreds of volts, each test is performed on one power device. After the test of a power device A is completed, the power device A can be directly removed from the power device interface, and then another power device B can be connected to the power device interface. When the package type of the power device is different, the design of its interface structure and functional pins is also different. The scalable power device interface provided in the present application is suitable for connecting a variety of different types of power devices, so that the multifunctional test board 110 has good reusability. When the type of power device B is different from the type of power device A, there is no need to replace the multifunctional test board 110, but directly plug and unplug the power device to carry out the test process of power device B, which saves time of the entire test process and improves test efficiency.

[0036] In some embodiments, the power device to be tested includes a silicon-based MOSFET and a silicon carbide MOSFET. The packaging types of the power MOSFET include through hole packaging and surface mount packaging. The through hole packaging includes a dual in-line package (DIP), a transistor outline package (TO), a pin grid array package (PGA), etc. The surface mount includes a transistor outline (D-PAK), a small outline transistor (SOT), a small outline package (SOP), etc. The power device interface of the present application can be applied to these different types of packaging modes mentioned above.

[0037] Furthermore, the power device to be tested is a device used in a space radiation environment, including a device for satellite.

[0038] like Figure 1 As shown, the power bias module 120 is connected between the remote controller 130 and the multi-function test board 110. Although the connection relationship between the modules is represented by straight lines with arrows in the figure, those skilled in the art can use various wired and wireless communication methods to realize the transmission of data and signals between the modules, which are all within the scope of protection of this application.

[0039] The function of the power bias module 120 is to provide a bias voltage to the power device to be tested and monitor the current characteristics of the power device to be tested. The power bias module 120 can be directly electrically connected to the power device to be tested set on the multi-function test board 110, for example, connected to the power device interface on the multi-function test board 110, or connected to other circuits on the multi-function test board 110 and then connected to the power device interface.

[0040] like Figure 1 As shown, the remote controller 130 is directly connected to the power bias module 120, and is used to set a bias voltage corresponding to the power device to be tested, control the power bias module 120 to provide the bias voltage, and obtain the current characteristics of the power device to be tested, and evaluate the spatial single particle failure of the power device to be tested based on the bias voltage and current characteristics.

[0041] In some embodiments, the power bias module 120 includes at least two digital source meters. The digital source meter integrates the functions of a voltage source, a current source, a voltage meter, and an ammeter, and can provide various analog or digital input and output combinations. According to the characteristics of the device to be tested, the present application provides two different bias voltages to the power device to be tested through two digital source meters, which are used to evaluate the two failures of single particle burnout and single particle gate penetration.

[0042] Figure 2 2 is a schematic diagram of an evaluation system according to another embodiment of the present application. Figure 1Compared with the evaluation system 100 in FIG. 1 , in addition to the multifunctional test board 110, the power bias module 120 and the remote controller 130, the internal controller 140 is also included. The internal controller 140, the multifunctional test board 110 and the power bias module 120 are all arranged in the irradiation hall 101. Therefore, the internal controller 140 has the characteristics of radiation protection or radiation resistance, and can still work normally in the space single particle radiation environment.

[0043] exist Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, the remote controller 130 can directly send commands to the power bias module 120 and receive the monitored electrical signals from the power bias module 120. Figure 2 In the embodiment shown, the remote controller 110 is directly connected to the internal controller 140, and the power bias module 120 is further controlled by remotely controlling the internal controller 140. In the existing test system, a control computer is set in the irradiation hall 101. Figure 2 The embodiment shown is compatible with existing test system equipment and uses an additional remote controller 110 to implement remote control. In addition, the internal controller 130 itself can be set with some complex control programs, and the remote controller 130 only needs to send simple commands to trigger the corresponding control program.

[0044] Figure 3 1 is a schematic diagram of an evaluation system of an embodiment of the present application. In this embodiment, the remote controller 130 is specifically implemented as a remote control computer 310, the internal controller 140 is specifically implemented as a control computer 321, the power bias module 120 is specifically implemented as two digital source meters 322, and the multifunctional test board 110 is specifically implemented as a DUT board. In the irradiation hall 101, a particle beam simulating a single particle in space is generated by a specific device, and the particle beam is directly emitted toward the power device to be tested on the DUT board, and the bias voltage applied to the power device to be tested is remotely controlled at the same time, thereby simulating the operation of the power device to be tested in a single particle environment in space. The bias voltage applied can be designed according to the test needs, and can be the bias voltage range of the power device to be tested when it actually works in space.

[0045] According to the evaluation system of the present application, the bias voltage range can reach -1000V to +1000V, which can meet the testing requirements of most power MOSFETs currently on the market.

[0046] Specifically, for Figure 1 and Figure 2For the embodiment shown, the remote controller 130 can also be configured to: control the gate and source of the power device to be tested to be grounded, and provide the power device to be tested with a drain voltage that gradually increases with a first step length until a single-particle burnout occurs in the power device to be tested. The drain voltage at this time is the critical drain bias voltage of the power device to be tested. The core of testing the SEB sensitivity of the power MOSFET is to find the critical drain bias voltage. During irradiation, the remote controller 130 can control the gate and source of the power device to be tested to be connected to the ground, and apply a bias voltage to the drain, so that the bias voltage starts from a lower voltage value. We believe that the lower voltage value is a value far from the critical drain bias voltage, and gradually increases with a preset first step length. Whether a single-particle burnout event occurs can be determined by monitoring the drain-source current. In some embodiments, a threshold method can be used for judgment. For example, assuming that the drain-source current of a power device is usually in the nanoampere level, when it suddenly increases to the milliampere level, it means that the power device has been burned.

[0047] In some embodiments, the remote controller 130 is further configured to implement the following steps:

[0048] Step S1: Control the source of the power device to be tested to be grounded;

[0049] Step S2: setting one of the gate voltage and the drain voltage to be fixed, and the other to be gradually increased from the initial value by a second step length, and stopping the current test when the change of the gate current reaches a preset threshold;

[0050] Step S3: increasing the fixed voltage by a third step, and repeating the above steps S2 and S3 until the fixed voltage reaches a preset maximum value.

[0051] Through the above steps S1 to S3, the single event gate penetration effect can be evaluated.

[0052] One criterion for testing single-particle gate breakdown is that the electric field passing through the gate oxide layer reaches the critical breakdown value, which is expressed by the following formula.

[0053]

[0054] a=0.1465MeV -b

[0055] b=0.2649

[0056] χ=LET·Z 2 ·t ox

[0057] Among them, E bd Represents the electric field strength across the gate oxide layer; E iIt represents the critical breakdown electric field strength of the gate oxide material itself. For silicon dioxide, its value is 1×10 7 V / cm; the unit of LET (Liner Energy Transfer) should be converted to MeV / nm, Z is the atomic number of the incident particle; t ox Represents the thickness of the gate oxide layer, in nm. According to the above formula, the electric field strength E across the gate oxide layer can be obtained bd .

[0058] In step S2, assuming that the gate voltage Vgs is set to be fixed, the drain voltage Vds is gradually increased from a small initial value with a second step length Step2. When the gate current change reaches a preset threshold, it indicates that the particle irradiation has an impact on the device performance, and the current test is stopped. In step S3, the gate voltage Vgs is increased by a third step length Step3, and step S2 is repeated until a corresponding drain voltage Vds limit value can be obtained for each gate voltage Vgs, thereby further obtaining the safe operating area of ​​the device.

[0059] The gate oxide thickness of different devices may be different, and the second step length and the third step length can be set according to the specific gate oxide thickness. For example, the second step length and the third step length are proportional to the gate oxide thickness of the power device to be tested, that is, the thicker the gate oxide thickness, the larger the two step lengths.

[0060] like Figure 3 As shown, the remote control computer 310 has a display device, such as a display. In some embodiments, the remote controller 130 is also used to visually display the output characteristic curve and evaluation results of the power device to be tested.

[0061] Figure 4 and Figure 5 The output characteristic curves are obtained by using the evaluation system of the present application to evaluate and test a 100V power VDMOS device and a 200V power VDMOS device. Both power devices are typical devices used on satellites. The horizontal axis is the gate voltage or gate-source voltage Vgs, in V, and the vertical axis is the drain voltage or drain-source voltage Vds, in V. Figure 4 As shown, curve 401 represents the output characteristic curve of a 100V power VDMOS device in a Xe particle environment, and curve 402 represents the output characteristic curve of a 100V power VDMOS device in a Bi particle environment. When Vgs exceeds -15V, the trends of curves 401 and 402 both begin to go down, indicating that the output characteristics of the power device have undergone a sudden change. Figure 5As shown, curve 501 represents the output characteristic curve of a 200V power VDMOS device in a Xe particle environment, and curve 502 represents the output characteristic curve of a 200V power VDMOS device in a Bi particle environment. When Vgs exceeds -10V, the trend of curve 502 begins to go down, and when Vgs exceeds -15V, the trend of curve 501 begins to go down, indicating that the performance of the device in a Xe particle environment is more stable than in a Bi particle environment. The downward trend of the curve indicates that the drain current of the device has undergone a sudden change, resulting in a decrease in Vds, indicating that a single particle failure effect has occurred.

[0062] The area under each curve is called the safe operating area, which means that the Vgs and Vds of the device can work normally in this area. Obviously, under the effect of particle radiation, after Vgs exceeds a certain value, the safe area becomes smaller.

[0063] In general, the change trends of these two devices under different particle irradiation are consistent. The larger the particle LET and the higher the penetration depth, the smaller the safe working area formed by the device.

[0064] The evaluation system of the present application can visualize the output characteristic curve of the power device, including the current change that characterizes single-particle burnout and single-particle gate penetration.

[0065] The basic concepts have been described above. Obviously, for those skilled in the art, the above invention disclosure is only used as an example and does not constitute a limitation of the present application. Although not explicitly stated herein, those skilled in the art may make various modifications, improvements and amendments to the present application. Such modifications, improvements and amendments are suggested in the present application, so such modifications, improvements and amendments still belong to the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present application.

[0066] At the same time, the present application uses specific words to describe the embodiments of the present application. For example, "one embodiment", "an embodiment", and / or "some embodiments" refer to a certain feature, structure or characteristic related to at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, it should be emphasized and noted that "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" or "an alternative embodiment" mentioned twice or more in different positions in this specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, some features, structures or characteristics in one or more embodiments of the present application can be appropriately combined.

[0067] Some aspects of the present application may be performed entirely by hardware, entirely by software (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.), or by a combination of hardware and software. The above hardware or software may be referred to as "data blocks", "modules", "engines", "units", "components" or "systems". The processor may be one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DAPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or combinations thereof. In addition, various aspects of the present application may be expressed as computer products located in one or more computer-readable media, which include computer-readable program codes. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, tapes ...), optical disks (e.g., compact disks CDs, digital versatile disks DVDs ...), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., cards, sticks, key drives ...).

[0068] In some embodiments, numbers describing the number of components and attributes are used. It should be understood that such numbers used in the description of the embodiments are modified by the modifiers "about", "approximately" or "substantially" in some examples. Unless otherwise specified, "about", "approximately" or "substantially" indicate that the numbers are allowed to vary by ±20%. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the numerical parameters used in the specification and claims are approximate values, which may change according to the required features of individual embodiments. In some embodiments, the numerical parameters should take into account the specified significant digits and adopt the general method of retaining digits. Although the numerical domains and parameters used to confirm the breadth of their range in some embodiments of the present application are approximate values, in specific embodiments, the setting of such numerical values ​​is as accurate as possible within the feasible range.

Claims

1. A spatial single-particle failure assessment system for power devices, characterized in that: include: Multi-function test board, power bias module and remote controller, among which, The multifunctional test board includes an expandable power device interface for connecting multiple different types of power devices to be tested; The power bias module is connected to the multifunctional test board and is used to provide a bias voltage to the power device to be tested and monitor the current characteristics of the power device to be tested; The remote controller is connected to the power bias module, and is used to set a bias voltage corresponding to the power device to be tested, control the power bias module to provide the bias voltage, and obtain the current characteristics, and evaluate the spatial single particle failure of the power device to be tested according to the bias voltage and the current characteristics; The multifunctional test board and the power bias module are arranged in a space single particle radiation environment, and the remote controller is arranged outside the space single particle radiation environment.

2. The evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein: The power devices to be tested include silicon-based MOSFET and silicon carbide MOSFET.

3. The evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein: The spatial single-particle failure includes single-particle burnout and / or single-particle gate penetration.

4. The evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein: The remote controller is also configured to: control the gate and source of the power device to be tested to be grounded, and provide a drain voltage to the power device to be tested that is gradually increased with a first step length until a single particle burnout occurs in the power device to be tested, and the drain voltage at this time is the critical drain bias voltage of the power device to be tested.

5. The evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein: The remote controller is also configured to implement the following steps: Step S1: controlling the source of the power device to be tested to be grounded; Step S2: setting one of the gate voltage and the drain voltage to be fixed, and the other to be gradually increased from an initial value by a second step length, and stopping the current test when the change of the gate current reaches a preset threshold; Step S3: increasing the fixed voltage by a third step, and repeating the above steps S2 and S3 until the fixed voltage reaches a preset maximum value.

6. The evaluation system according to claim 5, characterized in that The second step length and the third step length are both proportional to the thickness of the gate oxide layer of the power device to be tested.

7. The evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein: The bias voltage ranges from -1000V to +1000V.

8. The evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein: The remote controller is also used to visually display the output characteristic curve and evaluation result of the power device to be tested.

9. The evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein: It also includes an internal controller arranged in the space single particle radiation environment, and the internal controller is used to receive commands from the remote controller, and control the power bias module to provide the bias voltage according to the commands, and obtain the current characteristics, and send the current characteristics to the remote controller.

10. The evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein: The power bias module includes at least two digital source meters.

11. The evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein: The power device to be tested is a satellite device.

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