Semiconductor switches replace thyratrons and ignitrons

• Published in: IEEE Conference Record - Abstracts. PPPS-2001 Pulsed Power Plasma Science 2001. 28th IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science and 13th IEEE International Pulsed Power Conference (Cat. No.01CH37 p. 359
• Main Authors: Welleman, A., Ramezani, E., Schlapbach, U.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 2001
• Subjects: Integrated circuit reliability; Low voltage; Maintenance; Power semiconductor switches; Power system reliability; Pulsed power supplies; Semiconductor devices; Solid state circuits; Switching systems; Thyratrons
• ISBN: 9780780371415; 0780371410
• DOI: 10.1109/PPPS.2001.961061

Summary form only given. A solid state pulse power switching system is presented which shows a reliable, long life, low maintenance, high voltage and high di/dt switch assembly. The solid state switch is using reverse conducting semiconductor devices, with integrated very fast triggering circuits and a closed loop current source power supply. By using different wafer sizes and several devices in series connection, blocking voltages of over 30 kVdc and pulse currents up to 100 kA with very high di/dts are possible from single pulse till up to several hundred Hertz repetition rate. The solid state system has no environmental restrictions, and is designed to be used as replacement for thyratrons and ignitrons, but can be used for various other applications. The switching system has a modular built-up, using a basic platform technology and different kind of optimized semiconductor devices allow to design the switch for several specific applications in the pulsed power field. Information about availability, life-time expectations, field experience and cost comparison is also given.