Hard drive of high power GTOs: better switching capability obtained through improved gate-units

The paper presents the dynamic behavior of a standard high power GTO (CSG 3003-45) during turn-on and off switching transients under hard drive conditions. The high power switching device and its gate-unit were modeled and simulated in Spice and ABBPisces (2D device and circuit simulator) and their performances were predicted. A gate-unit capable to handle up to |dI/sub G//dt|=5 kA//spl mu/s was realized and tremendous betterment of device original specifications (as per data-sheet supplied from the producer) were observed during measurements. Very good agreement between simulation and laboratory findings were notified during turn-on and turn-off transients. This is a good indication of homogeneous operation of all 2000 parallel cells of the segmented GTO.