POWER ELECTRONICS

Lecture No. 9 & 10

GATE TURN-OFF (GTO) THYRISTOR

• There are 8.0 kA/10.0 kV SCRs commercially

available that use a 6-inch silicon wafer for current
conduction. However, SCRs cannot be turned off
through their gate controls.
• Because of the limitation of the turn-off
controllability of the SCR, the gate turn-off (GTO)
thyristor was subsequently developed.
• As its name denotes, a GTO is a device that can be
turned off through its gate control.
 GTO STRUCTURE
• The structure is a three-terminal, four-layer pnpn
structure with a lightly doped n− voltage-blocking
layer in the center.
• The electrode on the external p+ layer is called the
anode where the current normally flows into the
device.
• The electrode on the external n+ layer is called the
cathode from where the current normally flows out.
The electrode on the internal p layer (p-base) is
called the gate, which is used for control.
OPERATING PRINCIPLE
• The operating principle of a GTO can be understood through its
equivalent circuit model shown.
• The pnp transistor represents the top three layers of the GTO,
whereas the npn transistor represents the bottom three layers of the
GTO. Since the n− layer serves as the base of the pnp and the
collector of the npn, and the internal p layer serves as the base of
the npn and the collector of the pnp, the two transistors are cross-
coupled.
• This structure has two stable states: ON and OFF, which are
determined by its gate control.
GTO OPERATING PRINCIPLE
• When a current is injected into the GTO from its gate to its
cathode, the npn structure is turned on and its collector current
flows from the anode of the GTO through J1 junction.
• Since J1 is the emitter junction of the pnp structure, the collector
current of the pnp is then the base current of the npn. The two
transistors therefore provide base currents to each other, forming a
positive feedback among them until they reach a self-sustaining
state commonly known as latch-up or latched. 5
GTO OPERATING PRINCIPLE

• Under the latched condition, high-level minority carrier injections

are available from the anode to the cathode, with all three pn
junctions forward-biased.
•A high conductivity therefore exists from anode to cathode,
allowing high current to flow from the anode to the cathode.
GTO TURN-OFF
• If the GTO gate is pulling out current from the GTO, the current
injection into the npn base will be reduced.
• Once this is reduced below a certain level, the collector current of
the npn, and hence the base current of the pnp, will also decrease,
leading to the reduced pnp collector current.
• This will further reduce the base current of the npn since it is the
difference between the collector current of the pnp and the gate
pullout current. This positive-feedback process will eventually
turn off the GTO.