Bidirectional Phase Control Thyristor (BiPCT): A New Antiparallel Thyristor Concept

An antiparallel thyristor concept is introduced, where each thyristor occupies the whole silicon wafer This is achieved by full interdigitation of anode and cathode lateral and vertical structures of the antiparallel thyristors. The p-type cathode shorts on one wafer side serve as anode regions on the opposite side. This concept provides AC switch with turn-ON by any of the two gates and turn-off only after the load current ceased. Using an optimized irradiation procedure, we obtain device with turn-off capability called BiPCT. There the antiparallel thyristors show the recovery charge $\textbf{Q}_{rr} \lt 3000 {\mu}$As and commutation turn-off time $\textbf{t}_{\mathbf{q}}\lt 100 \mu \text{s}$ as experimentally demonstrated at four-inch 8.5 kV silicon devices. The concept is suitable for both Si and SiC.