A new high power asymmetrical GTO

The application field of the GTO thyristor is expanding and includes traction speed control equipment that is a propulsion inverter and chopper with PWM control. The ability of GTO thyristors is highly recommended being of high power and low power dissipation and fast switching. In high power GTO thyristor, one of the principal items of this ability can be operated in accordance with a small snubber capacitor because the total efficiency of equipment deeply depends on the power dissipation of the snubber circuit which relies on the capacitor. The new high power asymmetrical GTO has been developed, using a 76 mm silicon wafer and adopting a high voltage and high frequency GTO technology to reduce the power dissipation of snubber circuit. This GTO has the rated voltage of 4.5 kV and a rated turn-off capability of 3 kA with a 3 μF snubber capacitor. The authors explain the adopted technology and the rating and characteristic performance of newly fabricated GTO