Gate turn-off thyristor for high blocking voltage and small component thickness

A gate turn-off thyristor, comprising:

• a) between a first main surface and a second main surface, a number of differently doped semiconductor layers;
• b) on the second main surface, an anode electrode and, on the first main surface, a cathode electrode and a gate electrode;
• c) the semiconductor layers comprising, viewed from the second main surface, a p.sup.+ -doped anode emitter, an n-doped n-base and a p-doped p-base, the anode emitter being in electrical contact with the anode electrode and the p-base being in electrical contact with the gate electrode, and n.sup.+ -doped cathode-emitter regions, which are in electrical contact with the cathode electrode, being incorporated in the p-base;
• wherein
• d) the anode emitter is designed as a transparent emitter;
• e) n.sup.+ -doped anode short-circuit regions penetrate through the anode emitter, and
• f) an n-doped barrier layer is provided between the n-base and the anode emitter, said barrier layer being epitaxially produced and having at least a two-stage doping profile, including a first stage, further away from the second main surface, being more heavily doped, and a second stage, directly adjoining the second main surface, being more lightly doped relative to the first stage.