DocumentCode
785758
Title
GTO thyristor and bipolar transistor cascode switches
Author
Williams, B.W. ; Goodfellow, J.K. ; Robinson, F.V.P.
Author_Institution
Dept. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Heriot-Watt Univ., Edinburgh, UK
Volume
137
Issue
3
fYear
1990
fDate
5/1/1990 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage
141
Lastpage
153
Abstract
The switching performance of both the bipolar transistor and gate turn-off thyristor is improved when used in a cascode switch configuration. `Snubberless´ turn-off occurs without second breakdown and the technique results in shorter saturation delay times, faster current fall and higher operational sustaining voltages than obtained with conventional switching techniques. Improved switching performance is traded for increased drive circuit complexity and an increased on-state power loss associated with two series connected power semiconductor switches. The circuit techniques features and performance of two 720 V DC, 320 A cascode switches are presented. The bipolar transistor cascode switch is tested up to 100 kHz, whereas tail current power loss limits the GTO thyristor cascode switch to 16 kHz
Keywords
bipolar transistors; semiconductor switches; thyristor applications; 100 kHz; 16 kHz; 320 A; 720 V; DC cascode switches; GTO thyristor; bipolar transistor cascode switches; snubberless turn-off; switching performance; tail current power loss;
fLanguage
English
Journal_Title
Electric Power Applications, IEE Proceedings B
Publisher
iet
ISSN
0143-7038
Type
jour
Filename
48957
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