Present and Future of Semiconductor Pulsed Power Generator ˜Role of Power Semiconductor Devices in Plasma Research˜ 4.Fast High-Voltage Pulse Generator Utilizing SI-Thyristor

Abstract

Research on and development of a fast high-voltage pulse generator utilizing a SI-thyristor is reviewed. Although the SI-thyristor is a device developed for large current control in the power electronics field, it has desirable properties for pulsed power applications. According to the experimental results on the SI-thyristor, the turn-on characteristics can be drastically improved by driving with a fast and large gate current. The self-turn-off capability of the SI-thyristor was also applied to the inductive energy storage circuit. This paper introduces a newly developed turn-off scheme with the SI-thyristor assisted by MOSFETs to make the circuit configuration extremely robust and simple. A high-voltage pulse with the amplitude of 18.7kV and the pulse width of 74 ns was successfully obtained at the primary voltage of 100 V.