High current density 800-V 4H-SiC gate turn-off thyristors

4H-SiC gate turn-off thyristors (GTOs) were fabricated using the recently developed inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) dry etching technique. DC and ac characterisation have been done to evaluate forward blocking voltage, leakage current, on-state voltage drop and switching performance. GTOs over 800 V dc blocking capability has been demonstrated with a blocking layer thickness of 7 μm. The dc on-state voltage drops of a typical device at 25 and 300/spl deg/C were 4.5 and 3.6 V, respectively, for a current density of 1000 A/cm². The devices can be reliably turned on and turned off under an anode current density of 5000 A/cm² without observable degradation.