The field-assisted turn-off thyristor: a regenerative device withvoltage-controlled turn-off

A solid-state switching element, the field-assisted turn-off (FATO) thyristor, has been developed. This is a regenerative device, which implies that it is capable of carrying very large current densities, with a very small forward voltage drop when it is in its on-state. Most regenerative devices cannot be turned off with a control signal; however, the structure of the FATO thyristor allows it to be switched off by applying a voltage to a high impedance, insulated-gate terminal. This device can also be fabricated with an insulated-gate turn-on structure, so that it is fully switchable using only low-current control signals. The design, fabrication, and characterization of the FATO thyristor are described     

Improvement of thyristor turn-on by calculation of the gate-cathode characteristic before injection

The ohmic part of the gate-cathode characteristic of thyristors has been calculated numerically. Normal and amplifying gate structures as well as emitter shorts are included. By a simple extension of the model, the case of the dv/dt and breakover turn-on has also been treated. It is thus possible to calculate the minimal control current and voltage for a cathode side thyristor geometry and to optimize the device with respect to the turn-on process.     

Characteristics of AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure RT-SCR model

Electrical properties of a resonant-tunneling-semiconductor-controlled rectifier (RT-SCR) model have been presented. The current, temperature, gain, doping concentration, and layer size versus voltage relationships have been numerically obtained. The RT-SCR device requires smaller turn-on voltage than a comparable traditional device for the same gate current. This indicates that, in comparison with the traditional thyristor, a smaller control current may be used to turn on the device at a particular voltage. Characteristics of the device are affected by p1, n1, and p2 regions. It is showed that higher doping concentrations cause lower turn-on voltages and an increase in the region width results in higher turn-on voltages for p1 and p2 regions. Changing the doping concentration and width in n1 region affects the characteristics of the structure differently from that of the p1 and p2 regions.     

A thyristor protected against di/dt failure at breakover turn-on

The principle and the operation of a thyristor that can be turned on by exceeding its breakover voltage are described. The principle uses the concept of an auxiliary thyristor amplifying the small breakover current to a large gate current for the main thyristor. In this arrangement the breakover turn-on has to occur first in the auxiliary thyristor. This is ensured by a doping of the n-base of the auxiliary thyristor which is higher than that of the n-base of the main thyristor. Time resolved infrared photographs of the breakover turn-on are presented. Also, infrared photographs of the breakdown radiation from p-n-p structures are used to give a survey on the starting silicon which already contains the inhomogeneous doping.     

High dI/dT light-triggered thyristors

Directly light-triggered, 4000- and 6000-V thyristors were designed, fabricated, and tested to obtain high performance in dI/dt, dV/dt, and photosensitivity. Built-in resistors protected both auxiliary stages during high dI/dt turn-on. The novel use of etched moats to define the resistors was compatible with an optical gate structure that gives high dV/dt and good photosensitivity. No additional processing steps were needed to fabricate these devices, as compared to standard light-triggered thyristors. A record value of 1000 A/µs at 60 Hz was measured on a 6000-V thyristor, and 850 A/µs was safely triggered with only 1.8 mW of light. The dV/dt immunity of the photogate structure measured 4000 V/µs, rising exponentially to 80 percent of 4000 V, VDRM. Thyristors triggered by dV/dt were not destroyed. A new model of resistor heating was combined with the first measurements of the current pulses through both built-in resistors to identify the mechanism responsible for occasional burn-out of the second resistor. The failure mechanism was conductivity modulation in the surface of the resistor during its microsecond on-time caused by thermally generated carriers. The test results confirmed the utility of built-in resistors for high dI/dt performance with minimal light power and for nondestructive dV/dt triggering.     

A model for the resonant tunneling semiconductor-controlled rectifier

A new switch called a resonant-tunneling-semiconductor-controlled rectifier (RT-SCR) has been proposed. A two-transistor model is used for the device. One of the transistors in the two-transistor model is assumed to be a resonant tunneling transistor (RTT), while the other transistor is taken to be a bipolar transistor. The current–voltage relationships of the device have been numerically obtained and compared with the traditional thyristor characteristics. The new device requires smaller turn-on gate voltage than a comparable traditional device for the same gate current. This indicates that in comparison with the traditional thyristor, a smaller control current may be used to turn on the device at a particular voltage.     

金属氧化物半导体控制晶闸管的di/dt优化

金属氧化物半导体控制晶闸管(MCT)相比于绝缘栅双极型晶体管(IGBT)具有高电流密度、低导通压降和快速开启等优势,在高压脉冲功率领域具有广阔的应用前景.作为脉冲功率开关,MCT开启过程对输出脉冲信号质量有很大影响.采用理论分析并结合仿真优化重点研究了MCT开启瞬态特性.通过对MCT开启过程进行详细地理论分析推导,给出了MCT开启过程中阳极电流和上升时间的表达式.结合Sentaurus TCAD仿真优化,将MCT开启过程中电流上升速率(di/dt)由40 kA/s提升至80 kA/s,极大地改善了器件开启瞬态特性.最后,总结提出了提高器件开启瞬间di/dt的设计途径.     

一种新的电阻元件等效方法及其应用

摘要：利用串联电阻的等效电阻等于各电阻之和、并联电阻的等效电导等于各电导之和的结论．导出了电阻等效的新结论,即任意电阻可以等效为一个电阻与一个电压控制电压源的串联,也可以等效为一个电阻和一个电流控制电压源的串联;任意电阻可以等效为一个电阻和一个电流控制电流源的并联,也可以等效为一个电阻和一个电压控制电流源的并联。本文给出了这种等效方法的理论证明,并以实例说明了电阻等效的应用。     

水平沟道场控晶闸管正向特性研究

水平沟道场控晶闸管是由结型场效应晶体管和双极型晶体管复合构成的一种晶闸管。它具有输入阻抗高、电压控制和用低压控制大功率输出的特点。文中对已研制成的一种水平沟道场控晶闸管正向特性进行了较为详细的分析。     

自保护MOS栅晶闸管

本文报告一种叫做自保护MOS栅晶闸管的新器件.这种器件无寄生闩锁效应,并在较高阳极电压下展现出电流下降而不是饱和或上升的特性.因此,这种新器件具有令人满意的正偏安全工作区.器件的保护点由用户外接输入电阻自行调节,极大增加了使用的灵活性.此外,器件保护点电流和电压的温度系数均为负,这种特性使器件在高温工作时可更好地起自保护作用.     

Superintegrated voltage clamp

A monolithic implementation of a voltage clamp circuit is described that saves area and reduces capacitance, as the transistor and the voltage divider resistor required are merged into a single device. Following this principle in current switch logic circuits, even the emitter follower can be superintegrated into the collector loads. Moreover, base-bleeding resistors can be incorporated in transistors of silicon-controlled rectifiers.     

A 2.5-kV static induction thyristor having new gate and shorted p-emitter structures

An SI thyristor with new gate and shorted p-emitter structures (DTT-SI thyristor) is proposed to realize a high-voltage high current high-speed device having a low forward voltage drop. Investigations using fabricated 2.5-kV 100-A DTT-SI thyristors and numerical analyses show that the DTT-SI thyristor has a good trade-off between the forward voltage drop and switching characteristics when the channel width is 8-10 µm and the maximum impurity concentration is about 1 × 10¹⁷to 4 × 10¹⁷cm^-3. The typical fabricated DTT-SI thyristor has a 2.5-kV forward blocking voltage with a 58-V reverse gate bias voltage, a 1.4-V forward voltage drop with a 100-A anode current, a 2- µs turn-on time, adi/dtcapability higher than 4000 A/µs, and can interrupt a 900-A anode current with a 3.5-µs turn-off time and a 5.6 gate turn-off gain on application of a 100-V reverse gate bias voltage.     

Dual MOS gate controlled thyristor (DMGCT) structure withshort-circuit withstand capability superior to IGBT

A dual MOS gate controlled thyristor (DMGCT) structure is analyzed with experimental data and shown to have superior performance over insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) for power switching applications. The DMGCT device structure consists of a thyristor structure with the thyristor current constrained to flow via the channel region of a MOSFET. Although this increases the on-state voltage drop in the thyristor current path by a small amount due to the voltage drop across the low-voltage series MOSFET, this structure allows control of the thyristor current by the gate voltage applied to the MOSFET even after latch-up of the thyristor. This configuration allows uniform turn-off in the device with no current crowding. The DMGCT does not have any parasitic thyristor structure. In contrast to the IGBT, the saturation current of the DMGCT can be controlled independently of the on-state voltage drop     

Low-loss high-speed switching devices, 2300-V 150-A static induction thyristor

Focussing attention to the performance of high-speed high off-state voltage and large current provided in the buried-gate-type static induction (SI) thyristor, a 2300-V 150-A low-voltage-drop high-speed medium-power SI thyristor was developed. Irrespective of the magnitude of switching current, the SI thyristor has the characteristics of fast turn-on time and less on-gate current compared to that of the GTO thyristor. The characteristics of this SI thyristor obtained as the result of manufacturing this prototype were such that the forward blocking voltage was 2300 V at a gate reverse voltage of -5 V, the reverse blocking voltage was 2350 V, and the forward voltage drop was 1.4 V at an anode current of 150 A and 2.2 V at an anode current of 450 A. The switching characteristics were such that the turn-on time was 1.5 µs when an anode current IAof 150 A becomes ON, turnoff time was 2.5 µs at IA= 100 A and 3.6 µs at IA= 200 A. This SI thyristor is able to break the anode current of 1000 A at a gate current of 95 A. Performance exceeding 1100 A/µs was confirmed for the di/dt capability and even for dv/dt, and these normally can be operatable even at 100 times higher current compared with maximum average current.     

Inverter light triggered thyristor with unique arm-structure amplifying gate

A 1200-V 200-A directly light triggered thyristor suitable for inverter application has been developed. A new amplifying gate design with a second amplifying stage was used in achieving a factor of 15 to 50 increase in gate sensitivity without any loss indV/dtcapability and only a small (less than a factor of two) reduction in devicedi/dtrating, despite a ten times smaller initial turn-on line length. In all, three versions were made with gate threshold currents down to 1 mA anddV/dtcapabilities to 1000 V/µs. All three types had 60-Hz di/dt capabilitLes of about 250 A/µs at 125 deg TJand turn-off times of approximately 25 µs. The new light sensitive amplifying gate stage design features a gate thyristor region with extending arms for high gate sensitivity, the inner portion of which is just large enough to accommodate initial on-region spreading duriag the short on-time of the gate stage. The arms increase gate sensitivity while contributing very little to the overalldV/dtcurrent. The turn-on speed can be accounted for by most of the inner region being turned on by the photogate pulse. Like regular electrically fired thyristors, a gate overdrive factor is important. With these devices an overdrive factor of about 3 to 5 is needed for highdi/dtturn-on whereas in an electrically triggered device this factor is closer to 10.     

A high-current and high-temperature 6H-SiC thyristor

A 6H-SiC thyristor has been fabricated and characterized. A forward breakover voltage close to 100 V and a pulse switched current density of 5200 A/cm² have been demonstrated. The thyristor is shown to operate under pulse gate triggering for turn-on and turn-off, with a rise time of 43 ns and a fall time of less than 100 ns. The forward breakover voltage is found to decrease by only 4% when the operating temperature is increased from room temperature to 300°C. It is found that anode ohmic contact resistance dominates the device forward drop at high current densities     

Simulated turn-off of 4H-SiC gate turn-off thyristors with gateelectrodes on the p-base or the n-base

Turn-off simulations of a 4H-SiC GTO thyristor structure having a gated p-base and p-type substrate are compared with that having a gated n-base and n-type substrate. Two gate drive circuits are considered, one with a voltage source and resistor between the gate and adjacent emitter region, and the other with a voltage source and resistor between the gate and farthest emitter region. The gated n-base thyristor's substrate current increases atypically before the device turns off. Also, the gated n-base structure turns off when the gate circuit is connected directly to the emitter region furthest from the gate region, but the gated p-base structure does not. Furthermore, turn-off gain is lower for the gated n-base structure due to mobility differences as demonstrated by current-voltage (I-V) and current versus time (I-t) curves     

Substrate-triggered SCR device for on-chip ESD protection in fully silicided sub-0.25-/spl mu/m CMOS process

The turn-on mechanism of a silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) device is essentially a current triggering event. While a current is applied to the base or substrate of the SCR device, it can be quickly triggered into its latching state. In this paper, a novel design concept to turn on the SCR device by applying the substrate-triggered technique is first proposed for effective on-chip electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection. This novel substrate-triggered SCR device has the advantages of controllable switching voltage and adjustable holding voltage and is compatible with general CMOS processes without extra process modification such as the silicide-blocking mask and ESD implantation. Moreover, the substrate-triggered SCR devices can be stacked in ESD protection circuits to avoid the transient-induced latch-up issue. The turn-on time of the proposed substrate-triggered SCR devices can be reduced from 27.4 to 7.8 ns by the substrate-triggering technique. The substrate-triggered SCR device with a small active area of only 20 /spl mu/m /spl times/ 20 /spl mu/m can sustain the HBM ESD stress of 6.5 kV in a fully silicided 0.25-/spl mu/m CMOS process.     

High-power dual amplifying gate light triggered thyristors

The feasibility of directly light triggering a high power phase control thyristor is investigated. Work is described on an optically triggered gated 53-mm diameter 2600-V 1000-A thyristor which is similar to an electrically gated production version. Test results describing the response of this thyristor to various optical signals are presented. Our work has shown that this cell can be directly triggered by light at an equivalent gate current which is a factor of three below its present dynamic gate requirements and still largely retain all its blocking and dynamic characteristics. This improvement is obtained by the use of a second very sensitive amplifying gate stage which is responsive to light. All wafer processing of the light sensitive thyristor was carried out on standard production lines. Tests made on static dV/dt, di/dt, blocking voltage, and leakage current on light sensitive devices all closely match parameters of the standard electrically fired equivalent cell.     

High value implanted resistors for microcircuits

Boron ion implantation has been used to fabricate high sheet resistance p-type junction resistors in silicon substrates. Thermally grown SiO2and conventional photolithography were employed to define the resistor geometries. Ion doses in the range 0.5 × 10¹³to 10 × 10¹³ions/cm²with energies ranging from 30 to 55 keV followed by anneal at 950°C were used. The temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR), voltage coefficient of resistance (VCR), junction Characteristics, and noise level of these resistors have been studied for sheet resistances ρx, from 0.8 to 11 kΩ/square. Over this range of sheet resistances the TCR increases smoothly from approximately 800 to 4000 PPM/°C with the lower TCR corresponding to the lower sheet resistance. For 3 kΩ square implanted resistors, the variation of resistance with temperature closely matches that found for a standard boron base and resistor (B&R) diffusion having a sheet resistance of 140 Ω/square. The junction leakage and the noise level of the implanted resistors can be made comparable to that obtained for diffused resistors. The implanted resistor exhibits a positive VCR, which increases with increasing sheet resistance as a result of depletion-layer pinch-off action from the substrate. Details of the implant conditions and process control are discussed. Experimental results demonstrating the compatibility of the resistor implantation process with microcircuits using low current, high β diffused bipolar transistors are presented.