Application-Oriented Flexible Power Cycling Test System for Power Electronic Components

Power cycling tests are crucial for assessing the packaging-related reliability performance of power electronic components. This paper presents a versatile test system designed for both DC and AC power cycling, aimed at evaluating the reliability of power devices under realistic stress conditions. Initially, the paper details the system's design-from PCB layout to software control-and outlines the considerations taken during its development to inspire practicing engineers and promote discussions on standardization specific to AC power cycling. Focusing on on-state voltage and junction temperature as the primary ageing parameters, the paper discusses the on-state voltage measurement circuit and validates its effectiveness and accuracy with measurements from high-voltage optically isolated probes. It subsequently emphasizes the implementation of optical fibers for direct junction temperature measurements, followed by a comparative analysis of this method's measurement accuracy against the traditional $V_$(T) method. Lastly, the paper presents and evaluates power cycling test results for both DC and AC modes, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed design.