The implementation of gate turn-off thyristors as high voltage turn-on switches for pulse power applications

An amount of material has been published on the application of GTO thyristors in high voltage pulse power applications, much of which generalises on the suitability of these devices to replace thyratrons as fast turn on switches. The highly interdigitated gate structure of the GTO thyristor has been shown to permit much higher load current di/dt capability at turn-on than the conventional thyristor and this along with the high voltage rating available in these devices makes them a good alternative to valve technology. Development work has been conducted by such notaries as CERN in the implementation of the GTO thyristor in large series stacks to attain pulse switches with operating voltages to greater than 25 kV and currents to 30 kA, with di/dt>10 kA//spl mu/s. This initial work has prompted many others to consider the GTO thyristor in similar applications. The authors discuss the use of the GTO thyristor as a pulse switch.