9 kV, 1 cm2 SiC Gate Turn-Off Thyristors

In this paper, for the first time, we report a large area (1 cm2) SiC GTO with 9 kV blocking voltage fabricated on 100-mm 4H-SiC substrates with much reduced Basal Plane Dislocation (BPD) density. The static and dynamic characteristics are described. A forward drop of 3.7 V at 100 A (100 A/cm2) is measured at 25C. A slight positive temperature coefficient of the forward drop is present at 300 A/cm2, indicating the possibility of paralleling multiple devices for higher current capability. The device exhibits extremely low leakage currents at high temperatures. The device has shown fast turn-on time of 53.9 nsec, and ~3.5 s of turn-off time, respectively. A stable forward voltage drop after electrical stress for >1000 hours has been achieved.