A new GTO driving technique for faster switching

This paper presents the design of a new turn-off gate drive circuit for GTO which can accomplish faster turn-off switching. The major disadvantage of the conventional turn-off gate drive technique is that it has difficulty in realizing high negative di_GQ/dt because of V_RGM(maximum reverse gate voltage) and stray inductances of turn-off gate drive circuit. The new turn-off gate drive technique can overcome this problem by adding another turn-off gate drive circuit to the conventional turn-off gate drive circuit. Simulation and experimental results of the new turn-off gate drive circuit in conjunction with a chopper circuit verify faster turn-off switching performance