The high power and high frequency operation of the emitter turn-off (ETO) thyristor

This paper presents the high power and high frequency performance of the emitter turn-off thyristor (ETO). The homogenous switching due to the unity turn-off gain and high turn-off gate current rising rate enlarges the ETO´s SOA to full dynamic avalanche, approaching the physical limits of silicon. The short turn-off storage time, the high turn-on di/dt capability, low switching and conduction losses, and the low gate drive unit power consumption allow the ETO to operate at high power and high frequency (kHz range). Based on ETO´s switching loss, conduction loss, thermal impedance, and the system´s thermal dissipation, an ETO H-bridge voltage source converter´s output current and output power capabilities are calculated. An ETO based H-bridge converter is built, and 1000 A_rms output current at 2000 V DC bus voltage and 1 kHz switching frequency is demonstrated.