Semiconductor devices for pulsed power applications

Semiconductor switches have been available for forty years. Early devices based upon germanium possessed limited power capabilities, only a few tens of volts and amps. The move to silicon brought many advantages, principally higher voltage withstand and higher operating temperatures. This enabled the first practical thyristor switches to become commercially available during the early sixties. It was another fifteen years before devices with significantly high voltage capability (around 6 kV) and high current rating (around 2000 A DC) were in production. These devices have a high surge current rating (typically 100 kA) and hence potential for use in pulsed power applications. The author describes how continued development has produced devices of larger area (higher current), higher voltage and with an internal structure which makes them suitable for narrow width, high di/dt pulses