An emitter switched thyristor with base resistance control

Author

Shekar, M.S. ; Nandakumar, M. ; Baliga, B.Jayant

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC, USA

Volume

14

Issue

6

fYear

1993

fDate

6/1/1993 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

280

Lastpage

282

Abstract

An MOS-gated emitter-switched thyristor structure with base resistance control, which combines the best features of both the emitter-switched thyristor (EST) and the base-resistance-controlled thyristor (BRT), is reported. With this structure, it is possible to obtain turn-off (dynamic) current densities above the static latch-up current density of the parasitic thyristor in the EST, while preserving its unique current saturation capability. It has been experimentally demonstrated for 600 V forward blocking devices that the maximum controllable current density under dynamic conditions is a function of both the gate bias and the dimensions of the N/sup +/ floating emitter. Turn-off measurements have demonstrated that the new structure has a maximum controllable current density of over 2.5 times that for the EST structure without base resistance control.<>

Keywords

current density; metal-insulator-semiconductor devices; thyristors; 600 V; MOS-gated emitter-switched thyristor; N/sup +/ floating emitter dimensions; base resistance control; current saturation capability; dynamic conditions; forward blocking devices; gate bias; static latch-up current density; turn off current density; Cathodes; Current density; Current measurement; Density measurement; Diversity reception; Electrical resistance measurement; Insulated gate bipolar transistors; MOSFET circuits; Thyristors; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Device Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0741-3106

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/55.215198

Filename

215198