Title :
Experimental demonstration of the emitter switched thyristor
Author :
Shekar, M.S. ; Baliga, B.J. ; Nandakumar, M. ; Tandon, S. ; Reisman, A.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC, USA
Abstract :
The operation of 600 V forward blocking emitter switched thyristors (ESTs) has been experimentally demonstrated. The devices were fabricated using an IGBT baseline process with six masking steps. The forward I-V and turnoff characteristics have been measured and corroborated through two-dimensional numerical simulations. The output characteristics are close to a thyristor with an additional drop of about 0.5 V across the lateral MOSFET. Switching tests were performed up to a current density of 1000 A/cm2 on single unit cells, and the measured turn-off times were about 7 μs. A unique feature of the EST which is not seen in any other MOS-gated thyristor devices is saturation of thyristor current even after latch up of the main thyristor. This feature is very important for applications requiring current limiting and short circuit protection
Keywords :
equivalent circuits; semiconductor device models; thyristors; 600 V; 7 mus; IGBT baseline process; current limiting; current saturation; emitter switched thyristor; forward blocking; latchup; short circuit protection; turnoff characteristics; turnoff times; two-dimensional numerical simulations; Current density; Current measurement; Density measurement; Insulated gate bipolar transistors; Latches; MOSFET circuits; Numerical simulation; Performance evaluation; Testing; Thyristors;
Conference_Titel :
Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs, 1991. ISPSD '91., Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on
Conference_Location :
Baltimore, MD
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-0009-2
DOI :
10.1109/ISPSD.1991.146082
