Experimental Demonstration of dV/dt Effect on Silicon Carbon SGTO for Pulse Power Applications

Abstract

In this work, the dV/dt characteristics of silicon carbide super gate turn-off thyristor (SiC SGTO) is experimentally demonstrated and investigated for the first time. An analytical model of SiC GTO dV/dt immunity is established, which presents the mechanism of dV/dt effect on SiC SGTO. A specially designed SiC SGTO is fabricated and tested at different dV/dt conditions. It is shown that the fabricated SiC SGTO exhibits a high pulse current capability with peak current of 2.4 kA/cm2. And the dV/dt immunity of SiC SGTO changes with varying external gate resistance ($R_{load}$). At $R_{load}=0\ \Omega$, the device under test (DUT) does not be triggered at dV/dt of $124.8\ \text{kV}/\mu\mathrm{s}$. While at $R_{load}=51\ \Omega$, the DUT is triggered at a relatively low dV/dt of $31.8\ \text{kV}/\mu\mathrm{s}$.