New Sensing Application to Diagnose Power Semiconductor Aging in Actuator Power Drive Systems

This paper presents a new sensing application
to diagnose power semiconductor aging in power drive
systems. It has been shown previously that device
parasitic characteristics change during the aging process
which results in detectable changes in their frequency
response. This change is manifested in the current signal
at very high frequencies. Therefore, using a wideband
AC current sensor, high frequency components of the
current can be acquired, providing a way to detect
device aging.