The mos controlled thyristor (mct) as an on-off capacitor bank switch

The MCT /sup1,2/ is a new class of thyristor which can be closed or opened with control signals and control energies equivalent to those required to charge and discharge the gate capacitance of a power MOSFET. The device can be thought of as a conventional thyristor in which the resistance of the emitter shorts is controllable by means of a MOS gate. The MCT structure has the power handling capability of a conventional or Gate Turn-Off (GTO) thyristor of equivalent size. MCTs presently available are limited to blocking voltages of 500 V and controllable currents of 100 A. We have tested MCTs as output on-off switches in capacitive pulser circuits with both resistive and inductive loads. Significant voltages, up to 1.5kV, were obtained by operating the devices in series. A brief description of the MCT is presented. Experimental results are presented which describe its switching characteristics when operated alone and as part of a series array. The MCT's future potential is briefly evaluated.