New Technologies of Power Transistors for Efficiency Increase of Power Converters: The Reliability Consideration Pascal Dherbécourt 1 , Ahmed El Oualkadi 2 , Eric Joubert 1 , Al Mehdi Bouchour 1,2 , Wadia Jouha 2 , Mohamed Masmoudi 1 , Olivier Latry 1 {pascal.dherbecourt@univ-rouen.fr, eloualkadi@gmail.com} 1 Groupe de Physique des Matériaux UMR 6634, Normandie University, UNIROUEN, INSA Rouen, CNRS. Avenue de l’université B.P 12, Saint Etienne du Rouvray, France 2 Laboratory of Information Technology and Communication, National School of Applied Sciences of Tangier. University Abdelmalek Essaadi, Tétouan, Maroc Abstract. This paper proposes a methodology to study the reliability and failure analysis of new technologies of power transistors. The use of wide gap materials such as Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) is now a good alternative to meet the integration requirements of energy conversion systems. However, the reliability of these components is a crucial issue. Aging in operating conditions is considered, associated with electrical measurements to highlight nondestructive degradations of the performance of studied transistors. A step of looking for failure mechanisms in the material is made in order to identify any physical degradation. The information collected provide the user with valuable data and help to make an optimum choice of the component which can be integrated into the equipment. The presented work proposes the description of a methodology that meets these requirements and shows the study of two technologies of power transistors used in new generations of power converters. Keywords: Electronic reliability, failure analysis, power transistor, ageing tests. 1 Introduction The total market for Silicon Carbide (SiC) power components will account for more than one billion US dollars (US $ 1 trillion) by Yole Development organization in 2022 [1]. Applications such as PFC / power supplies and photovoltaic inverters are now contributing to the growth of this market. Photovoltaic applications seem to largely integrate SiC products. Indeed, SiC solutions offer a better system performance / cost ratio for photovoltaic inverters. In the future, applications related to electric vehicles, rail and others will also contribute to the evolution of the market. In this context, the new power transistor technologies, now available on the market, offer increased performance compared to traditional silicon components, in terms of high voltage, high temperature and high switching frequencies. However, these new wide gap components show random degradation problem, and reliability studies are still needed to qualify these components [2], [3], [4], [5]. The approach by long-term testing under operating conditions remains essential for integrators. ICCWCS 2019, April 24-25, Kenitra, Morocco Copyright © 2019 EAI DOI 10.4108/eai.24-4-2019.2284211