Evaluation of High-Voltage 4H-SiC Gate Turn-off Thyristor for Pulsed Power Application

High voltage power semiconductor devices with ultra-fast turn-on speed have always been highly desirable for advanced pulsed power applications. In recent years, the wide band gap semiconductor such as silicon carbide (SiC) has been given extensive attention to fabricating high voltage power devices due to its superior material and electrical properties over silicon. Among all SiC power switches, SiC gate turn-off thyristor (GTO) possesses not only high blocking voltage, but also excellent current handling capability and ultra-high turn-on di/dt. This research focuses on the characterization and pulse evaluation of a homemade high voltage SiC p-type GTO. The SiC GTO has a die size of 7.8 mm × 7.8 mm, and it possesses a differential on-resistance of 33.5 mΩ•cm2 and a high forward blocking voltage of 6.3 kV. The SiC GTO was pulsed in a homemade pulse power discharging system. The test results show that the peak current and di/dt of the SiC GTO during turn-on process can reach up to 9.04 kA (14.86 kA/cm2) and 10.70 kA/µs, respectively, indicating that the SiC GTO is very promising for pulsed power applications.