Power semiconductor device with active short circuit failure mode

A method for controlling a power semiconductor device, the method comprising:

• operating the power semiconductor device in a normal operation mode where a wide bandgap material switch is selectively switched between a conducting state and a non-conducting state;
• sensing a failure in the power semiconductor device;
• and
• in response to sensing the failure, causing current to pass through a Si switch that is coupled in parallel with the wide bandgap material switch, the current causing the Si switch to be heated to a temperature high enough to form a permanent conducting path through the Si switch, wherein the current is caused to pass through the Si switch by applying a gate signal applied to the Si switch has a lower voltage than a gate signal applied in the normal operation mode thereby causing an internal resistance of the Si chip to be higher than in the normal operation mode.

A method for controlling a power semiconductor device, the method comprising:

• operating the power semiconductor device in a normal operation mode where gate signals are applied to a Si switch and a wide bandgap material switch to selectively switch the Si switch and the wide bandgap material between a conducting state and a non-conducting state;
• sensing a failure in the power semiconductor device;
• and
• in response to sensing the failure, applying a gate signal to the wide bandgap material to attempt to switch the wide bandgap material to the non-conducting state and applying a gate signal, which is lower than the gate signal applied during the normal operating mode, to the Si switch to heat the Si switch to a temperature high enough to form an eutectic alloy between the Si switch and a metal preform in contact with the Si switch thereby forming a conducting path through the Si switch.