A bilateral silicon switch

The bilateral switch is a new semiconductor device which abruptly lowers its impedance as a result of the application of a voltage of sufficient amplitude. The switch is used for pulse generation, and more specifically for the precise firing of Triacs and silicon controlled rectifiers. The switch is in the form of a monolithic circuit of the planar passivated type. The tested device has a switching voltage of 6.4 V at 25°C, and the temperature coefficient is less than 0.05 percent/°C. The dc forward current is 200 mA, the peak forward current is 1 A, based on a 10-µs pulsewidth, 1-percent duty cycle, and an ambient temperature of 100°C. The paper describes the principle of operation, the basic design, and shows test data.