Evaluation of experimental Silicon SGTO devices for Pulsed Power applications

The development of new semiconductor devices requires that extensive testing be completed in order to fully understand the device characteristics and performance capabilities. This paper describes the evaluation of experimental Silicon high power Super Gate Turn Off Thyristors (Si SGTOs) in a unique testing environment. The SGTOs are capable of blocking in the forward direction up to 5kV and are also capable of handling several kA when pulsed. The device structure is asymmetric so the reverse blocking of these devices is only a couple hundred volts. Since these devices are SGTOs special consideration had to be given to the gate trigger circuit so that noise would be minimized on the gate therefore preventing false triggering of the devices.