Master Thesis - Health Monitoring of SiC MOSFET Power Modules

Master Thesis – Health Monitoring of SiC MOSFET Power Modules

Title: 30 hp – Health Monitoring of SiC MOSFET Multi-Chip Power Modules for Automotive Applications

Introduction

Scania is undergoing a transformation from being a leading supplier of trucks, buses, and engines to providing complete and sustainable transport solutions. Together with TRATON and our sister brands MAN, Volkswagen Truck & Bus, and International, we are working to shape the future of mobility with innovative and environmentally conscious solutions.

Our values - customer first, respect, team spirit, responsibility, and elimination of waste - are at the heart of everything we do. Together, we are at the forefront of creating a sustainable future.

Background Silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET power modules are increasingly used in automotive traction inverters because of their high switching speed, high efficiency, high-temperature capability, and high power density. In automotive applications, these modules are subjected to demanding electrical and thermo-mechanical operating conditions over long service lifetimes. Repeated power and thermal cycling can gradually degrade semiconductor dies, interconnections, and packaging structures and may eventually lead to failure.

Condition or health monitoring aims to detect such degradation before catastrophic failure by monitoring electrical or thermal parameters that correlate with the physical condition of the power module. A major challenge is that many of these quantities depend simultaneously on junction temperature and operating point, device-to-device variation, and degradation.

Objective

This proposed thesis will investigate, implement, and experimentally evaluate electrical-signature-based health-monitoring methods for automotive SiC MOSFET multi-chip power modules.

Job description

1. Conduct a literature review to investigate various electrical signatures for health monitoring of SiC MOSFET power modules.

2. Investigate and implement a method for estimating or measuring the junction temperature of a multi-chip SiC MOSFET power module.

3. Implement health-monitoring methods for detecting and monitoring various power-module failure modes using electrical signatures, such as gate-threshold voltage and on-state voltage measurements.

4. Perform experimental validation to evaluate the investigated methods in terms of measurement accuracy, reliability, and the need for temperature or other compensation.

Education/program/focus

1. Background in power electronics.

2. Experience with the electronic circuit design, analysis, and laboratory measurements.

3. Practical laboratory experience with oscilloscopes, measurement probes, power supplies, and power semiconductor devices.

4. Previous experience and knowledge of SiC MOSFET semiconductor devices and its reliability is considered an advantage.

Number of students: 1

Start date for the thesis work: January 2027

Estimated time required: 20 weeks

Contact persons and supervisors: Bhanu Pratap Singh, bhanu.singh@scania.com

Application:

Your application must include a CV, personal letter and transcript of grades

A background check might be conducted for this position. We are conducting interviews continuously and may close the recruitment earlier than the date specified.

Publication date from - to. 2026-10-01–2026-11-22