Papers by Author: T. Saxena

Abstract: Optical switch-on of a very high voltage (18-kV class) 4H-SiC thyristor with an amplification step (pilot thyristor) to the current I_max = 1225A has been demonstrated using a purely inductive load. The results obtained show that a further switch-on current increase can only be achieved by introducing additional amplification steps in the pilot thyristor structure.

Abstract: In this paper, for the first time, we report 12 kV, 1 cm² SiC GTOs demonstrated with a novel negative bevel termination, which improves the breakdown voltage by >3.5 kV compared to the conventional multiple-zone Junction Termination Extension (JTE). The significant improvement in the blocking voltage was attributed to the elimination of the electrical field crowding in the periphery of the mesa with conventional JTE termination. This new termination has been used in both electrically and optically triggered SiC GTOs. An ultrafast turn-on speed of 70 ns has been measured on 12 kV, 1 cm² SiC light triggered GTOs.