Title :
Switching characteristics of a high-temperature 6H-SiC thyristor
Author :
Xie, K. ; Buchwald, W.R. ; Zhao, J.H. ; Flemish, J.R. ; Burke, T. ; Kingsley, L. ; Weiner, M. ; Singh, H.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ, USA
Abstract :
Two different 6H-SiC thyristors, one with a 6.5 /spl mu/m n-type blocking layer and the other with a 8 /spl mu/m p-type blocking layer have been fabricated and characterized. The transient switching characteristics of these SiC thyristors were investigated using both optical and electrical gate triggering. A forward breakover voltage of 100 V for the thyristor with the n-type blocking layer and 600 V for the thyristor with p-type blocking layer are reported. The maximum switched current density as high as 2000 A/cm/sup 2/ is demonstrated in the SiC thyristor with n-type blocking layer. The forward breakover voltage of the 100 V thyristor is found to decrease by only 20% when operating temperature is increased from room temperature to 300/spl deg/C, while the rise time increases from 43 ns to 195 ns.<>
Keywords :
power semiconductor switches; semiconductor materials; silicon compounds; thyristors; 100 V; 20 to 300 degC; 43 to 195 ns; 6.5 micron; 600 V; 8 micron; SiC; electrical gate triggering; forward breakover voltage; maximum switched current density; n-type blocking layer; operating temperature; optical gate triggering; p-type blocking layer; rise time; transient switching characteristics; Area measurement; Breakdown voltage; Current measurement; Density measurement; Electric variables measurement; Optical devices; Power measurement; Pulse measurements; Silicon carbide; Thyristors;
Conference_Titel :
Electron Devices Meeting, 1994. IEDM '94. Technical Digest., International
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-2111-1
DOI :
10.1109/IEDM.1994.383379
