On the switching performance of semiconductor devices in a cascode switch

The gate turn-off (GTO) thyristor has the highest voltage and current rating among the semiconductor power switches used extensively today. The insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is used to improve switching performance of a GTO in a cascode switch. This paper documents the switching performance of the different power semiconductor devices used in an IGBT-gated GTO-cascode switch. The cascode switch was tested and simulated using SPICE. Experimental waveforms are presented and show good agreement with simulation results.