The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 02, 1991
Filed:
Apr. 06, 1989
Dante E Piccone, Glenmoore, PA (US);
James E McIntyre, deceased, late of Crum Lynn, PA (US);
Leroy B Major, West Chester, PA (US);
General Electric Company, King of Prussia, PA (US);
Abstract
This GTO thyristor comprises: (i) a cathode layer that is divided into a large number of cathode-layer fingers, (ii) a gate layer contiguous with the fingers, with a PN junction J1 between each finger and the gate layer, (iii) a cathode electrode on each finger, and (iv) a gate electrode on the gate layer having portions surrounding the fingers disposed in spaced relation to the fingers. Turn-off of the GTO thyristor is effected by forcing a turn-off current to flow between the cathode electrode of each finger and the gate electrode through the associated PN junction J1. This PN junction at each finger has a centrally-located region that is characterized by an avalanche voltage that is substantially lower than the avalanche voltage that characterizes this junction in the region of the junction surrounding the centrally-located region, and this relatively lower avalanche voltage enhances the current turn-off capabilities of the GTO thyristor.