Control Power Self-Generation and Sensors Integration in Emitter Turn-off (ETO) Thyristor

This paper highlights the improved design and demonstration of the control power self-generation in the emerging new power semiconductor switch ETO. It also discusses the method utilized to achieve complete sensor integrations in the ETO. Conventional high power devices require dedicated external power supplies with isolation capability to operate. The isolation transformer lowers the system reliability and increases the cost of the power converter. At the same time, conventional converters rely on expensive external sensors to gather the voltage, current and temperature information. The emerging ETO is a fully optical controlled power switch: the internal control power is self- generated; voltage, current and temperature sensors are also integrated in the device