Realization of a fast switching thyristor by local carrier lifetime control

Improvement of switching performance for a thyristor was studied by local carrier lifetime control with help of the HI-13 tandem accelerator in China. The proton irradiation was performed by vertical injection of the energetic particles from cathode side into metallized thyristor devices having a voltage rating of 1,600 V from 34 /spl mu/m thickness of 60/spl Omega//spl middot/cm wafer and 200 /spl mu/m width of N-base drift layer. A superior tradeoff relation between on-state voltage drop And turn-off time could be achieved by reproducible adjustment of a suitable particle energy, 4.7 MeV. Variation of the irradiation energy was found to result in remarkable changes in leakage currents in different modes.