A CMOS compatible lateral emitter switched thyristor with enhanced turn-on capability

Author

Chen, Weijie ; Amaratunga, G.A.J. ; Narayanan, E.M.S. ; Humphrey, J. ; Evans, A.G.R.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Eng., Cambridge Univ., UK

Volume

15

Issue

11

fYear

1994

Firstpage

482

Lastpage

484

Abstract

A new Lateral Emitter Switched Thyristor structure (LEST) is proposed and experimentally verified. The structure differs from the conventional LEST in that it embeds a floating ohmic contact between the n/sup -/ drift region and the n/sup +/ floating emitter. Both simulation and experimental results show that the device has an enhanced turn-on capability compared with the conventional LEST without deteriorating its other characteristics. The device is fabricated using a 3 μm CMOS process to have a 320 V breakdown voltage and a 0.7 V threshold voltage. Thyristor turn-on is observed at an anode voltage below 2 V. The maximum MOS controllable current density is in excess of 200 A/cm² with 5 V gate voltage.

Keywords

CMOS integrated circuits; MOS-controlled thyristors; current density; electric breakdown; ohmic contacts; power integrated circuits; 0.7 V; 2 V; 3 micron; 320 V; 5 V; CMOS compatible thyristor; breakdown voltage; floating ohmic contact; lateral emitter switched thyristor; n/sup +/ floating emitter; n/sup -/ drift region; threshold voltage; turn-on capability enhancement; Anodes; CMOS process; Cathodes; Current density; MOS devices; Ohmic contacts; Power integrated circuits; Threshold voltage; Thyristors; Voltage control;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Device Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0741-3106

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/55.334675

Filename

334675