Inductive switching of 4H-SiC gate turn-off thyristors

Author

Bayne, S.B. ; Tipton, C.W. ; Griffin, T. ; Scozzie, C.J. ; Geil, B. ; Agarwal, A.K. ; Richmond, J.

Author_Institution

US Army Res. Lab., Adelphi, MD, USA

Volume

23

Issue

6

fYear

2002

fDate

6/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

318

Lastpage

320

Abstract

The high-temperature operation of a silicon carbide gate turn-off thyristor is evaluated for use in inductively loaded switching circuits. Compared to purely resistive load elements, inductive loads subject the switching device to higher internal power dissipation. The ability of silicon carbide components to operate at elevated temperatures and high power dissipations are important factors for their use in future power conversion/control systems. In this work, a maximum current density of 540 A/cm/sup 2/ at 600 V was switched at a frequency of 2 kHz and at several case temperatures up to 150/spl deg/C. The turn-off and turn-on characteristics of the thyristor are discussed.

Keywords

high-temperature electronics; power semiconductor switches; silicon compounds; thyristors; wide band gap semiconductors; 150 C; 2 kHz; 4H-SiC gate turn-off thyristor; 600 V; SiC; current density; high temperature operation; inductive switching; power dissipation; turn-off characteristics; turn-on characteristics; Control systems; Frequency; Power conversion; Power dissipation; Power semiconductor switches; Silicon carbide; Switching circuits; Temperature control; Thyristors; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Device Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0741-3106

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LED.2002.1004221

Filename

1004221