Towards Modeling the Effects of Lightning Injection on Power MOSFETs

Power electronics are widely used in critical roles in modern day aircrafts and hence their health management is of great interest. An important part of prognostics and health management of these devices is understand- ing the effect of high-stress events such as lightning and how they affect their aging. In this paper we present our study and analysis of lightning injection experiments with power MOSFETs in their ON state. We show the different kind of damages that can be caused by such events and analyze their effects on device performance parameters. In addition, we present a simple yet effec- tive modeling technique that can model the degradation in these devices. Such models will play a valuable role in understanding the behavior of these damaged devices when operated under normal conditions later and sub- sequently in prognosis of their remaining useful life.We present our results on the performance of this modeling and the scope within which they can be utilized for ac- curate estimation of device damage.