A thyristor switch with a subnanosecond switching time

• Published in: Instruments and experimental techniques (New York) 2015-05, Vol.58 (3), p.376-380
• Main Authors: Gusev, A. I., Lyubutin, S. K., Rukin, S. N., Tsyranov, S. N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Electrical Engineering; Electronics and Radio Engineering; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Physical Chemistry; Physics; Physics and Astronomy
• ISSN: 0020-4412; 1608-3180
• DOI: 10.1134/S0020441215020189

The possibility of triggering thyristors by an overvoltage pulse with a short rise time was investigated. Low-frequency thyristors of pellet design with diameters of semiconductor structures of 32 and 40 mm and an operating voltage of 2 kV were used in the experiments. An external overvoltage pulse that increased from 2 to 5–8 kV within a time of 0.8–1 ns was applied to the thyristors. Under such conditions, the time of switching a thyristor into a conducting state was no longer than 200 ps. An assembly of six thyristors connected in series switched a capacitor with a capacitance of 2 μF, which was charged to a voltage of 13 kV, to a resistive load of 0.25 Ω. The following results were obtained: a discharge-current amplitude of 27 kA, an initial current-rise rate of 110 kA/μs, a FWHM pulse duration of 1 μs, and a peak power in the load of 190 MW. The circuit diagram of the experiment and the obtained results are described.