SiC super GTO thyristor technology development: Present status and future perspective

Author

Zhang, Q. ; Agarwal, A. ; Capell, C. ; Cheng, L. ; O´Loughlin, M. ; Burk, A. ; Palmour, J. ; Temple, Victor ; Ogunniyi, Aderinto ; O´Brien, Heather ; Scozzie, Charles J.

Author_Institution

Cree, Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC, USA

fYear

2011

fDate

19-23 June 2011

Firstpage

1530

Lastpage

1535

Abstract

Power devices made on Silicon Carbide (SiC) are expected to offer significant advantages over silicon due to its unique material properties. For pulse power applications, SiC Gate Turn-Off thyristors (GTOs) have been pursued as a substitute for present silicon-based, pulsed-power switches. An update on the device´s performance since the pulse work presented at the 2009 Pulse Power Conference is highlighted in this paper. Detailed reviews of the development history, state of the art, and future perspective for developing 15 kV SiC GTOs are provided. Two of the latest results are presented in this paper: (1) A novel termination, utilizing negative bevel termination, has been used in high voltage SiC GTOs, resulting in a blocking voltage of 12 kV, (2) For the first time, we have demonstrated large area optically triggered GTOs made on SiC with ultrafast turnon speed of 70 ns.

Keywords

power semiconductor switches; pulsed power switches; silicon compounds; thyristors; SiC; blocking voltage; gate turn-off thyristors; material property; negative bevel termination; power devices; pulse power applications; pulsed-power switches; silicon carbide; silicon-based switches; super GTO thyristor technology development; ultrafast turnon speed; voltage 12 kV; voltage 15 kV; Absorption; Buildings; Silicon carbide; Thyristors;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Pulsed Power Conference (PPC), 2011 IEEE

Conference_Location

Chicago, IL

ISSN

2158-4915

Print_ISBN

978-1-4577-0629-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PPC.2011.6191677

Filename

6191677