Eliminating infant mortality in metallized film capacitors by defect detection

A PoF approach to mitigating infant mortality is proposed which includes (1) conducting reliability capability and product maturity analyses; (2) identifying defects through non-destructive analysis, if possible; and (3) developing electrical tests to screen out early failures. The non-destructive analysis approach was outlined using die attach in a power module as a test bed, while the electrical testing approach was outlined using film capacitors. More data is being gathered to validate that the electrical test provides an early differentiation of change in capacitance over time between good and defective capacitors.