12 kV, 1 cm2 SiC GTO Thyristors with Negative Bevel Termination

In this paper, for the first time, we report 12 kV, 1 cm2 SiC GTOs demonstrated with a novel negative bevel termination, which improves the breakdown voltage by >3.5 kV compared to the conventional multiple-zone Junction Termination Extension (JTE). The significant improvement in the blocking voltage was attributed to the elimination of the electrical field crowding in the periphery of the mesa with conventional JTE termination. This new termination has been used in both electrically and optically triggered SiC GTOs. An ultrafast turn-on speed of 70 ns has been measured on 12 kV, 1 cm2 SiC light triggered GTOs.