Silicon carbide (SIC) gate turn-off (GTO) thyristor apparatus and method for high power control

A Silicon Carbide (SiC) Gate Turn-Off (GTO) thyristor

• structure comprising:
• a substrate formed of SiC having at least three epi-layers arranged thereon as first, second and third planar doped regions, respectively, said substrate comprising a fourth doped region, and each of said first, second, third and fourth doped regions having a first side and a second side opposite to said first side, said first, second, third and fourth doped regions being disposed in a sequential arrangement to at least partially overlap one another to form a stack with said first side of said second region adjacent said second side of said first region, said first side of said third region adjacent said second side of said second region, and said first side of said fourth region adjacent said second side of said third region, and said at least first, second, third and fourth doped regions providing current paths, in a direction of said sequential arrangement, alternating between p-type and n-type regions;
• an anode arranged on said first side of said first doped region;
• a base terminal arranged on said first side of said second doped region, one of said first and second regions being a p-type region and the other of said first and second regions being an n-type region;
• a gate arranged on said first side of said third doped region for controlling an on/off state of said thyristor;
• a cathode arranged on said second side of said fourth doped region;
• and
• current dividing means for dividing a current, flowing from a load, between said anode and said base terminal, said current dividing means being connected at a first end to said anode and said base terminal, and having a second end for being connected, during operation, to the load, so that only a portion of the load current flows to said anode.