The high power and high frequency operation of the emitter turn-off (ETO) thyristor

This paper presents the high power and high frequency performance of the emitter turn-off thyristor (ETO). The homogenous switching due to the unity turn-off gain and high turn-off gate current rising rate enlarges the ETO's SOA to full dynamic avalanche, approaching the physical limits of silicon. The short turn-off storage time, the high turn-on di/dt capability, low switching and conduction losses, and the low gate drive unit power consumption allow the ETO to operate at high power and high frequency (kHz range). Based on ETO's switching loss, conduction loss, thermal impedance, and the system's thermal dissipation, an ETO H-bridge voltage source converter's output current and output power capabilities are calculated. An ETO based H-bridge converter is built, and 1000 A/sub rms/ output current at 2000 V DC bus voltage and 1 kHz switching frequency is demonstrated.