Power Electronics Facility - Environmental and Thermal Testing
The Power Electronics Reliability Facility is equipped with environmental and thermal testing capabilities to evaluate how electronic devices and materials perform under realistic and accelerated operating conditions - enabling comprehensive assessment of performance, degradation, and reliability. The equipment is funded through Innovate UK's Driving the Electric Revolution programme.
Equipment
- HTRB & HTGB Reliability Test Systems: Custom-built high-temperature reverse bias (HTRB) and high-temperature gate bias (HTGB) test rigs for long-term reliability evaluation of power semiconductor devices. Developed in-house with a custom GUI, they enable controlled high-voltage and temperature stress testing. A flexible switching matrix supports biasing and reconfiguration of up to five DUTs, with microcontroller or SMU control and external voltage integration for gate and high-voltage bias.
- Power Cycling Tester: The Simcenter Micred Power Tester PWT 1800A 12C 12V from Siemens enables automated power cycling and thermal transient testing of power devices. It supports lifetime assessment with real-time failure diagnosis, identifying degradation mechanisms in SiC and GaN modules under accelerated stress conditions.
- Temperature & Humidity Test Chamber: The ARS-0680-15-E enables controlled environmental testing of power devices under extreme temperature and humidity conditions. It supports rapid thermal cycling (up to 15 K/min) over a wide range (−70 to +180 °C, 10–98% RH) for reliability and lifetime evaluation.
- Benchtop Temperature & Humidity Chamber: The TH-50C enables controlled environmental testing over a wide temperature range (−70 °C to +180 °C) and humidity (20–98% RH). It supports thermal cycling, damp heat testing, and environmental conditioning of power devices, enabling reliability evaluation under realistic operating and storage conditions.
- Benchtop Temperature Test Chamber: The Tenney Junior (TJR) enables controlled environmental testing over a wide temperature range (−75 °C to +200 °C) with high stability (±1 °C). It supports thermal cycling, conditioning, and reliability evaluation of power devices under controlled and repeatable temperature stress conditions.
Capabilities
- Environmental qualification and thermal cycling data
- Surface temperature maps and hotspot identification
- Thermal stability and heat dissipation behaviour
- Identification of thermally and environmentally driven failures
Applications
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Power electronics and semiconductor reliability testing
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Thermal management and cooling validation
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Automotive, aerospace, and energy system qualification
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Materials and packaging stability assessment
Related capabilities
Contact
Claire Gerard: / 07385 145064