Large SOA insulated gate controlled thyristor (IGCT) with p-base clamp

This paper presents the new concept of a p-base clamp, which remarkably improves the safe operating area (SOA) without sacrificing the low on-state voltage drop, for a MOS thyristor connecting a MOSFET and a thyristor in series. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this concept by using the experimental results from a 4 kV insulated gate controlled thyristor (IGCT) with a p-base clamp implemented by a Zener diode. The results show a very low on-state voltage drop of 3.75 V and a large SOA.

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