The first demonstration of the 1 cm /spl times/ 1 cm SiC thyristor chip

We report on the development of the first 1 cm /spl times/ 1 cm SiC thyristor chip capable of handling 1770 V. This demonstrates the present quality of the SiC substrate and epitaxial material. A forward drop of 4 V at 100 A and 200/spl deg/C was measured. The turn-on delay is found to be a strong function of the gate current. At a gate current of 1.5 A, the turn-on delay of 72 ns is observed for anode to cathode current, I/sub AK/=10 A. The turn-on rise time is a strong function of the anode to cathode voltage, V/sub AK/. At V/sub AK/=500 V, the turn-on rise time was 26 ns for I/sub AK/=10 A.