Pulsed Power Switching of a 4 MM × 4 MM SIC Thyristor

O'Brien, Heather; Shaheen, William; Bayne, Stephen

doi:10.1109/ppc.2005.300437

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The cathode contact is the entire underside of the chip. These SGTOs have finer anode structure and higher voltage hold-off than previously studied thyristors from Cree [6].…”

Section: A Devicesmentioning

confidence: 93%

Evaluation of Si and SiC SGTOs for High Action Army Applications

O'Brien¹,

Shaheen²,

Chiscop³

et al. 2008

2008 14th Symposium on Electromagnetic Launch Technology

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The U. S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) has been exploring silicon and silicon carbide Super gate turn-off thyristors (SGTOs) for high power pulse switching required by Army survivability and lethality applications. Silicon SGTOs (3.5 cm 2 ) were pulsed at 5 kA with a half-sine current waveform measuring 1 ms at the base. The recovery time, or T q , of the devices was evaluated from the point at which the main current pulse fell to zero. Using a driver designed to provide both turn-on and turn-off signals, the T q was reduced to 10 μs. Smaller silicon carbide SGTOs (0.16 cm 2 ) were similarly evaluated for widepulse performance. They were switched several times at a peak current above 300 A, with an unassisted T q time of 30 μs. This paper provides details of the aforementioned pulse switching, as well as a description of continuing evaluations involving parallel devices and larger test beds.

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“…The cathode contact is the entire underside of the chip. These SGTOs have finer anode structure and higher voltage hold-off than previously studied thyristors from Cree [6].…”

Section: A Devicesmentioning

confidence: 93%

Evaluation of Si and SiC SGTOs for High Action Army Applications

O'Brien¹,

Shaheen²,

Chiscop³

et al. 2008

2008 14th Symposium on Electromagnetic Launch Technology

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“…This work builds upon previous ARL studies of 2 mm x 2 mm SiC GTOs and these same 4 mm x 4 mm SiC SGTOs switched at single shot and repetitive rates for narrow pulse widths [3,4]. At ambient temperature with a pulse width of 2 µs, the 4 mm x 4 mm die were switched as high as 3.9 kA and 7.8 kA/µs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 65%

“…It can be operated at higher junction temperatures than silicon and has been shown to handle higher current densities, giving SiC-based switches the potential to be used in applications that include large temperature swings and small overall switch volumes [3,4]. The SGTOs evaluated in this study have the added bonus of a fine interdigitated gate structure (25-40 µm gate pitch) which improves turn-on time and current-handling capabilities over other gate design [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of a 4 mm x 4 mm SiC GTO at Temperatures up to 150°C and Varying Pulse Width

O'Brien

Shaheen

Bayne

2006

Conference Record of the 2006 Twenty-Seventh International Power Modulator Symposium

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The U. S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is evaluating silicon carbide Super GTOs (SGTOs) [1] to determine the extent of silicon carbide's capabilities as a possible replacement for silicon in future pulsed switching applications. Individual SiC die measuring 4 mm x 4 mm were pulsed at high temperatures and varying pulse widths. These SGTOs were switched in an RLC circuit at temperatures up to 150 °C. At this peak temperature, they were switched as high as 3.2 kA and repetitively pulsed at 2.6 kA and 5 Hz for greater than 14,000 pulses. A pulse forming network (PFN) was also designed to increase the pulse width and the action seen by the SiC devices. At ambient temperature and a peak current of 2 kA, SiC SGTOs were switched in the PFN at a 50% pulse width of 40 µs and an action of 150 A 2 s. This report includes further data on high temperature and wide pulse width testing, as well as analysis of the devices' failure points.

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“…Similar degradation in blocking capability was seen with SiC thyristors. [5] Along with the increased reverse leakage, there was a very slight increase in forward drop. One possible cause for these changes is the formation of stacking faults within the silicon carbide.…”

Section: B Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Pulse evaluation of high voltage SIC diodes

O'Brien

Shaheen²,

Bayne

et al. 2007

2007 16th IEEE International Pulsed Power Conference

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The U. S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is evaluating silicon carbide switches and diodes to determine the range of high power and pulsed power applications for which SiC is a sensible material to use. This study focused on 6 kV, SiC P-i-N diodes which were designed by Cree Inc. and packaged and pulse tested at ARL. Diodes were pulsed at a single shot rate both individually and in parallel. Individual diodes were pulsed as high as 5.9 kA (corresponding to an action of 4.5 x 10 3 A 2 s) for 25 single shots before failing, and as high as 5.0 kA (with an action of 3.5 x 10 3 A 2 s) for over 100 shots without failure. Five diodes paralleled in the pulse testbed carried a total current of 23 kA with each diode sharing 19-21% of the total peak current. Eight diodes in parallel reached over 39 kA peak current. The ultimate goal is to combine 8-10 diodes in a single, compact package for higher current applications.

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Pulsed Power Switching of a 4 MM × 4 MM SIC Thyristor

Cited by 14 publications

References 3 publications

Evaluation of Si and SiC SGTOs for High Action Army Applications

Evaluation of Si and SiC SGTOs for High Action Army Applications

Evaluation of a 4 mm x 4 mm SiC GTO at Temperatures up to 150°C and Varying Pulse Width

Pulse evaluation of high voltage SIC diodes

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