High Peak Current MOS Gate-Triggered Thyristor With Fast Turn-On Characteristics for Solid-State Closing Switch Applications

In this letter, a MOS gate-triggered thyristor (MGTT) structure with alternating MOS and p-n-p-n thyristor sections is proposed and fabricated with the state-of-the-art commercial insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) process. This structure introduces a p-n-p-n thyristor between the adjacent MOS cells, which brings about strong conductivity modulation in N-drift region and, consequently, ultralow on-state resistance due to the regenerative feedback mechanism. Thus, the proposed MGTT exhibits high peak current (I
_peak
) and high current rise rate (di/dt). Furthermore, the regenerative feedback mechanism in combination with MOS gate-triggered operation contributes to fast turn-ON speed and high repetition rate. The experimental results show that the fabricated MGTT exhibits an I
_peak
of 5.2 kA and a di/dt of 15.8 kA/μs, as well as high-frequency repetition of up to 20 Hz. The excellent device performance, coupled with a commercial IGBT-compatible fabrication process, makes the proposed MGTT a promising candidate for pulse power applications.