Power Semiconductor Devices for Hybrid Breakers

In order to survive the stresses inherent in opening mechanical circuit breakers under high power fault conditions, such breakers have traditionally been extremely large, rugged, and expensive. It is the purpose of this paper to examine the possible role of semiconductor technology in reducing the requirements of such a breaker, with a view to achieving considerable savings in its construction, improvement in performance, and possibly new capabilities. In particular we will describe the development and first device results of a giant phototransistor to be used as the basic semiconductor component of a hybrid breaker.