Thyristor with pressure contacting

Abstract

An improved thyristor with pressure contacting in which at least a portion of the control base zone in addition to the cathode zone extends on a single major surface of a wafer-shaped thyristor semiconductor body and the cathode base zone and the control base zone are each contiguous and are provided at least in part at the major surface with completely insulated ohmic electrodes, i.e., cathode and control electrodes. The ohmic cathode and control electrodes are insulated from one another by means of a layer of insulating material which covers those portions of the major surface of the semiconductor body which are not provided with electrodes and the control electrode except for the connecting contact for the control electrode, the planar surface of the layer of insulating material not having to lie at the level of the cathode electrode surface, and the cathode electrode is pressure contacted by means of a contacting wafer which is covered, at least on the surface thereof contacting the cathode electrode, with a highly conductive ductile material and is provided with a recess for the connecting terminal of the control electrode.