Simulated turn-off of 4H-SiC gate turn-off thyristors with gate electrodes on the p-base or the n-base

Turn-off simulations of a 4H-SiC GTO thyristor structure having a gated p-base and p-type substrate are compared with that having a gated n-base and n-type substrate. Two gate drive circuits are considered, one with a voltage source and resistor between the gate and adjacent emitter region, and the other with a voltage source and resistor between the gate and farthest emitter region. The gated n-base thyristor's substrate current increases atypically before the device turns off. Also, the gated n-base structure turns off when the gate circuit is connected directly to the emitter region furthest from the gate region, but the gated p-base structure does not. Furthermore, turn-off gain is lower for the gated n-base structure due to mobility differences as demonstrated by current-voltage (I-V) and current versus time (I-t) curves.