Wide bandgap bipolar turn-off thyristor having non-negative temperature coefficient and related control circuits

Abstract

An electronic device includes a wide bandgap thyristor having an anode, a cathode, and a gate terminal, and a wide bandgap bipolar transistor having a base, a collector, and an emitter terminal. The emitter terminal of the bipolar transistor is directly coupled to the anode terminal of the thyristor such that the bipolar transistor and the thyristor are connected in series. The bipolar transistor and the thyristor define a wide bandgap bipolar power switching device that is configured to switch between a nonconducting state and a conducting state that allows current flow between a first main terminal corresponding to the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor and a second main terminal corresponding to the cathode terminal of the thyristor responsive to application of a first control signal to the base terminal of the bipolar transistor and responsive to application of a second control signal to the gate terminal of the thyristor. Related control circuits are also discussed.

Description

FIELD

This invention relates to power semiconductor devices, and more particularly, to devices and circuits including power switching devices.

BACKGROUND

Power devices are widely used to carry large currents and support high voltages. Modern power devices are generally fabricated from monocrystalline silicon semiconductor material. One type of power device is the thyristor. A thyristor is a bistable power semiconductor device that can be switched from a nonconducting “off” state to a conducting “on” state, or vice versa. Power semiconductor devices, such as thyristors, high-power bipolar junction transistors (“HPBJT”), or power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (“MOSFET”), are semiconductor devices capable of controlling or passing large amounts of current and blocking high voltages.

Thyristors are generally known and conventionally have three terminals: an anode, a cathode, and a gate. A thyristor may be activated to conduct current between its anode and cathode terminals when a current pulse is received at its gate terminal. More particularly, a thyristor may be turned on by applying a short current pulse across the gate and the cathode. Once the thyristor turns on, the gate may lose its control to turn off the device. The turn off may be achieved by applying a reverse voltage across the anode and the cathode. A specially designed gate turn-off thyristor (“GTO”), however, is typically turned off by a reverse gate pulse. The GTO thyristors generally start conduction by some trigger input and then behave as diodes thereafter.

A thyristor is a highly rugged device in terms of transient currents, di/dt and dv/dt capability. The forward voltage (V_F) drop in conventional silicon thyristors is about 1.5 V to 2 V, and for some higher power devices, about 3 V. Therefore, the thyristor can control or pass large amounts of current and effectively block high voltages (i.e., a voltage switch).

Two parameters of a thyristor are the built-in potential (which is a characteristic of the bandgap of the semiconductor material used to manufacture the thyristor) and the specific on-resistance (i.e., the electrical resistance across the anode and cathode of the device in the linear region when the device is turned on). The specific on-resistance for a thyristor is typically as small as possible so as to provide a large current per unit area for a given voltage applied to the thyristor. The lower the specific on-resistance, the lower the forward voltage (V_F) drop is for a given current rating. The minimum V_F for a given semiconductor material is its built-in potential (voltage).

Some conventional thyristors may be manufactured in silicon (Si) or gallium arsenide (GaAs), such as a silicon controlled rectifier (“SCR”). Thyristors formed in Si or GaAs, however, may have certain performance limitations resulting from the Si or GaAs material itself, such as the minority carrier lifetime and the thickness of the drift region. The largest contributory factor to specific on-resistance is the resistance of the thick low-doped drift region of the thyristor. In a majority carrier device, such as a MOSFET, the specific on-resistance is determined by the doping concentration and the thickness of the lightly doped drift layer. In a minority carrier (or bipolar) device, carriers, both electrons and holes, are injected into this drift layer, and substantially reduces the specific on-resistance. This effect is referred to as conductivity modulation. As the rated voltage of a thyristor increases, typically the thickness of the drift region increases and the doping of the drift region decreases. For effective conductivity modulation, a very long minority carrier lifetime is required. At the same time, the amount of carriers stored in the drift layer increases because the volume of the drift layer is increased. Therefore, the time required to remove access carriers in the drift layer, which determines the switching times and frequencies, may increase dramatically for devices with higher blocking voltage ratings.

Development efforts in power devices have included the use of silicon carbide (SiC) devices for power devices. Silicon carbide has a wide bandgap, a lower dielectric constant, a high breakdown field strength, a high thermal conductivity, and a high saturation electron drift velocity relative to silicon. These characteristics may allow silicon carbide power devices to operate at higher temperatures, higher power levels and with lower specific on-resistance and higher switching frequency than conventional silicon-based power devices. A theoretical analysis of the superiority of silicon carbide devices over silicon devices is found in a publication by Bhatnagar et al. entitled “Comparison of 6H-SiC, 3C-SiC and Si for Power Devices”, TREE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 40, 1993, pp. 645-655.

SUMMARY

According to some embodiments of the present invention, an electronic device includes a wide bandgap thyristor having an anode, a cathode, and a gate terminal, and a wide bandgap bipolar transistor having a base, a collector, and an emitter terminal. The emitter terminal of the bipolar transistor is coupled to the anode terminal of the thyristor. The bipolar transistor and the thyristor define a hybrid or monolithic wide bandgap bipolar power switching device. The wide bandgap bipolar power switching device is configured to switch between a nonconducting state and a conducting state that allows current flow between the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor and the cathode terminal of the thyristor responsive to application of a first control signal to the base terminal of the bipolar transistor and responsive to application of a second control signal to the gate terminal of the thyristor.

In some embodiments, the electronic device may further include a control circuit configured to generate the first and second control signals, supply the first control signal to the gate terminal of the thyristor, and supply the second control signal to the base terminal of the bipolar transistor to switch the bipolar power switching device to the conducting state such that a load current flows between the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor and the cathode terminal of the thyristor. The control circuit may be further configured to couple the gate terminal of the thyristor to the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor such that the load current is commutated to the gate terminal of the thyristor to switch the bipolar power switching device to the nonconducting state.

In some embodiments, the control circuit may include a first voltage source configured to generate the first control signal configured to switch the bipolar transistor to a conductive state, a second voltage source configured to generate the second control signal configured to switch the thyristor to a conductive state, a first switching element configured to couple the first voltage source to the base terminal of the bipolar transistor to supply the first control signal thereto, a second switching element configured to couple the second voltage source to the gate terminal of the thyristor to supply the second control signal thereto, and a third switching element configured to couple the gate terminal of the thyristor to the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor.

In some embodiments, the control circuit may include a first switching element coupled to the gate terminal of the thyristor, an inverting driver device configured to provide the first control signal to the base terminal of the bipolar transistor and configured to switch the first switching element to provide the second control signal to the gate terminal of the thyristor, a second switching element coupled between the gate terminal of the thyristor and the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor, and a noninverting driver device configured to switch the second switching element to couple the gate terminal of the thyristor to the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor.

In some embodiments, the first switching element may be a wide bandgap metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor having a source/drain terminal coupled to the gate terminal of the thyristor and a gate terminal coupled to an output of the inverting driver device. The second switching element may be a wide bandgap commutating bipolar transistor having a collector terminal coupled to the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor, an emitter terminal coupled to the gate terminal of the thyristor, and a base terminal coupled to an output of the noninverting driver device.

In some embodiments, the control circuit may further include an optically triggered driver device configured to provide an output signal responsive to light applied thereto. The inverting driver device and the noninverting driver device may be coupled to an output of the optically triggered driver device. The inverting driver device may be configured to provide the first control signal to the base terminal of the bipolar transistor and may be configured to switch the MOS transistor to a conducting state to provide the second control signal to the gate terminal of the thyristor when light is applied to the optically triggered driver device. The noninverting driver device may be configured to switch the commutating bipolar transistor to a conducting state to couple the collector terminal of the first bipolar transistor to the gate terminal of the thyristor when light is not applied to the optically triggered driver device.

In some embodiments, the control circuit may further include a bypass stage coupled between the gate terminal of the thyristor and the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor. The bypass stage may be configured to conduct current therebetween to switch the bipolar power switching device to the nonconducting state when the current between the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor and the cathode terminal of the thyristor exceeds a predetermined level.

In some embodiments, the bypass stage may include a zener diode that is configured to conduct when the voltage drop between the collector of the bipolar transistor and the gate of the thyristor exceeds a breakdown voltage of the zener diode. In some embodiments, the bypass stage may include a plurality of power diodes connected in series between the gate terminal of the thyristor and the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor.

In some embodiments, the bypass stage may further include a commutating bipolar transistor having a collector terminal coupled to the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor, an emitter terminal coupled to the gate terminal of the thyristor, and a base terminal coupled to the zener diode. The commutating bipolar transistor may be configured to be switched to a conducting state responsive to conduction of the zener diode to provide the load current to the gate terminal of the thyristor and switch the bipolar power switching device to the nonconducting state.

In some embodiments, the bipolar transistor and the thyristor may be included in a common package. An on-resistance between the anode and cathode terminals of the thyristor may decrease as operating temperature of the thyristor increases. An on-resistance between the collector and emitter terminals of the bipolar transistor may increase as operating temperature of the bipolar transistor increases.

In some embodiments, the increase in the on-resistance of the bipolar transistor may be greater than the decrease in the electrical resistance of the thyristor as the respective operating temperatures increase. As such, an electrical resistance of the bipolar power switching device in the conducting state may increase as operating temperature of the bipolar power switching device increases.

In some embodiments, the increase in the on-resistance of the bipolar transistor may be substantially similar to the decrease in the electrical resistance of the thyristor as the respective operating temperatures increase. As such, an electrical resistance of the bipolar power switching device in the conducting state may not substantially change as operating temperature of the bipolar power switching device increases.

In some embodiments, the bipolar power switching device may be configured to provide current saturation capability when the bipolar transistor is operated in the active region.

In some embodiments, the bipolar transistor may be a silicon carbide bipolar junction transistor (BJT), and the thyristor may be a silicon carbide gate turn-off thyristor (GTO).

According to further embodiments of the present invention, a packaged bipolar power switching device includes a wide bandgap bipolar transistor having a base, a collector, and an emitter terminal, and a wide bandgap thyristor having an anode, a cathode, and a gate terminal. The anode terminal of the thyristor is coupled to the emitter terminal of the bipolar transistor. The collector terminal corresponds to a first main terminal of the bipolar power switching device, and the cathode terminal corresponds to a second main terminal of the bipolar power switching device. The bipolar power transistor is configured to switch between a nonconducting state and a conducting state that allows current flow between the first and second main terminals. The bipolar power transistor has a non-negative temperature coefficient, where an electrical resistance between the first and second main terminals does not decrease as operating temperature of the bipolar power switching device increases.

In some embodiments, an on-resistance between the anode and cathode terminals of the thyristor may decrease as an operating temperature of the thyristor increases. An on-resistance between the collector and emitter terminals of the bipolar transistor may increase as an operating temperature of the bipolar transistor increases.

In some embodiments, the increase in the on-resistance of the bipolar transistor may be greater than the decrease in the electrical resistance of the thyristor as the respective operating temperatures increase to provide a positive temperature coefficient where an electrical resistance between the first and second main terminals of the bipolar power switching device in the conducting state increases as operating temperature of the bipolar power switching device increases.

In some embodiments, the increase in the on-resistance of the bipolar transistor is substantially similar to the decrease in the electrical resistance of the thyristor as the respective operating temperatures increase to provide a near-zero temperature coefficient where an electrical resistance between the first and second main terminals of the bipolar power switching device in the conducting state does not substantially change as operating temperature of the bipolar power switching device increases.

According to still further embodiments of the present invention, a packaged bipolar turn-off thyristor device includes a wide bandgap gate turn-off thyristor (GTO) having an anode, a cathode, and a gate terminal, and a wide bandgap bipolar junction transistor (BJT) having a base, a collector, and an emitter terminal. The emitter terminal of the BJT is directly coupled to the anode terminal of the GTO. The bipolar power switching device is configured to switch between a nonconducting state and a conducting state that allows current flow between the collector of the BJT and the cathode of the GTO responsive to application of a first control signal to the base terminal of the BJT and responsive to application of a second control signal to the gate terminal of the GTO.

In some embodiments, an on-resistance between the anode and cathode terminals of the GTO may decrease as operating temperature of the GTO increases, and an on-resistance between the collector and emitter terminals of the BJT may increase as operating temperature of the BJT increases.

In some embodiments, the GTO may include a substrate of a first conductivity type having the cathode terminal thereon, a drift layer of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type on the substrate opposite the cathode terminal, a base layer of the first conductivity type on the drift layer and having the gate terminal thereon, and a first layer of the second conductivity type on the base layer and having the anode terminal thereon. The BJT may include a layer of the first conductivity type directly on the first layer of the second conductivity type and having the emitter terminal thereon, and a second layer of the second conductivity type on the layer of the first conductivity type. The second layer may include a highly doped first region of the first conductivity type therein having the collector terminal thereon, and a highly doped second region of the second conductivity type therein having the base terminal thereon.

In some embodiments, the first conductivity type may be n-type, and the second conductivity type may be p-type. The substrate and the layers thereon may be silicon carbide.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate certain embodiment(s) of the invention. In the drawings:

FIGS. 1-4 are schematic circuit diagrams illustrating devices and/or circuits according to some embodiments of the invention;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are graphs illustrating current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of devices according to some embodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional illustration of the device of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the size and relative sizes of layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity. It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being “on”, “connected to” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it can be directly on, connected or coupled to the other element or layer or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there are no intervening elements or layers present. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

It will be understood that although the terms first and second are used herein to describe various regions, layers and/or sections, these regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Thus, a first region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second region, layer or section, and similarly, a second region, layer or section may be termed a first region, layer or section without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Furthermore, relative terms, such as “lower” or “bottom” and “upper” or “top,” may be used herein to describe one element's relationship to another elements as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understood that relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures. For example, if the device in the Figures is turned over, elements described as being on the “lower” side of other elements would then be oriented on “upper” sides of the other elements. The exemplary term “lower”, can therefore, encompasses both an orientation of “lower” and “upper,” depending of the particular orientation of the figure. Similarly, if the device in one of the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements would then be oriented “above” the other elements. The exemplary terms “below” or “beneath” can, therefore, encompass both an orientation of above and below.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “includes” and/or “including,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this disclosure and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1 through 4 are schematic circuit diagrams illustrating various embodiments of the present invention. Transistors and thyristors according to embodiments of the present invention may be formed of silicon carbide having a polytype of 3C, 2H, 4H, 6H, and 15R, or from any of the various Group III-nitride materials useful for fabricating electronic devices. In the illustrated embodiments, the n+ and n− regions, as well as the p+ and p− regions, are designated “+” and “−” to symbolize different doping concentration levels respectively of the same conductivity type material in a manner well understood to those of ordinary skill in this art. As used herein, the “+” and “−” designations do not necessarily imply that a material is degenerate on one hand or semi-insulating on the other. The p-type silicon carbide may be doped, for example, with aluminum or boron and the n-type silicon carbide maybe doped, for example, with nitrogen or phosphorous. P-type nitrides may be doped, for example, with magnesium, while n-type nitrides may be doped, for example, with silicon.

As is known to those skilled in the art, a thyristor is a four-layer latching switching device having an anode and a cathode for current flow and a gate for switching the device from a blocking state to a conducting state, and vice versa. A control signal applied to the gate causes the device to “latch” into an “on” or conductive state, in which current can flow freely between the anode and cathode of the device. The device remains in the conductive state even after the control signal is removed. A second control signal, opposite in polarity to the first control signal, switches the device back into the “off” or blocking state. A specially designed gate turn-off thyristor (“GTO”), however, is typically turned off by a reverse gate pulse. The GTO thyristors generally start conduction by some trigger input and then behave as diodes thereafter. While certain wide bandgap thyristor designs are discussed in more detail below, the design of wide bandgap thyristors is generally known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,217 describes the design and manufacture of silicon carbide (SiC) thyristors. Such silicon carbide thyristors may exhibit improved power handling capabilities over similar silicon thyristors.

Some embodiments of the present invention may arise from realization that conventional thyristors may be difficult to implement in parallel due to differences in inherent on-resistances, especially as operating temperatures increase. In particular, some conventional SiC thyristors may have a negative temperature coefficient (NTC), where the on-resistance (and thus, the forward voltage drop V_F) across the device may decrease as operating temperature increases. Such a negative temperature coefficient for the forward voltage drop may increase the conducting current, due to the increase in the junction temperature. This may lead to current concentration on one or more thyristors connected in parallel, which may result in terminal run-away.

Embodiments of present invention provide a bipolar power switching device including a wide bandgap thyristor and a wide bandgap bipolar transistor connected in series. Such wide bandgap devices include an active semiconductor layer of a wide bandgap material, such as silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN), and/or other Group-III nitride material. In particular, embodiments of the present invention provide a SiC thyristor having at least a SiC bipolar junction transistor (BJT) connected in series with the thyristor anode terminal. Such configuration, also referred to herein as a Bipolar Turn-Off thyristor (“BTO”), may provide enhanced operating characteristics as compared to conventional SiC thyristors.

In particular, bipolar power switching devices according to embodiments of the present invention can provide a near-zero temperature coefficient (e.g., such that the on-resistance across the device does not substantially change as operating temperature increases) or even a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) (e.g., such that the on-resistance across the device increases as operating temperature increases) for the forward voltage drop V_F by connecting a wide bandgap BJT in series with a wide bandgap thyristor. For example, a SiC BJT, which has a positive temperature coefficient for the forward voltage drop, can be specifically chosen to reduce the negative temperature coefficient of an SiC thyristor, and may provide a near-zero or even slightly positive temperature coefficient across the main terminals of the BTO. More particularly, the SiC BJT may act like a resistor when it is operated in saturation region, and may provide a positive temperature coefficient for the forward voltage drop. Accordingly, bipolar power switching devices according to embodiments of the present invention can be more easily paralleled, as the forward voltage drop may increase with increasing temperature to promote more even current distribution in parallel connected devices.

In addition, bipolar power switching devices according to some embodiments of the present invention may provide current saturation capability when the SiC BJT operates in the active region. The current saturation capability can protect such devices from inrush current during turning-on, and/or current over shooting in the case of short-circuit failure. Bipolar power switching devices according to some embodiments of the present invention may also provide a negative temperature coefficient for the saturation current.

Bipolar power switching devices according to some embodiments of the present invention can also switch at relatively high speed. For example, a BTO according to some embodiments of the present invention can be turned off faster than conventional SiC thyristors, as the SiC BJT may be used to turn off the anode current of the SiC thyristor at a relatively high rate. Also, a bypass stage including a zener diode and/or several power diodes connected in series may be used to divert anode current to the thyristor gate terminal to turn off the thyristor. Bipolar power switching devices according to some embodiments of the present invention can also operate at relatively high temperatures, due to the absence of a gate dielectric film.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a bipolar power switching device or “BTO” 100 according to some embodiments of the present invention. Referring now to FIG. 1, the BTO 100 includes a wide bandgap bipolar transistor (illustrated in FIG. 1 as a SiC BJT emitter follower 105) connected in series with a wide bandgap thyristor (illustrated in FIG. 1 as a SiC GTO 110) to provide a pseudo cascode pair. In particular, the SiC GTO 110 includes a gate terminal 110g, a cathode terminal 110c, and an anode terminal 110a. The SiC BJT 105 includes a base terminal 105b, a collector terminal 105c, and an emitter terminal 105e. The emitter terminal 105e of the SiC BJT 105 is directly coupled to the anode terminal 110a of the SiC GTO 110. The collector 105c of the SiC BJT 105 is coupled to and/or provides the anode terminal (also referred to herein as a first main terminal) 100a for the BTO, and the cathode 110c of the SiC GTO 110 is coupled to and/or provides the cathode terminal (also referred to herein as a second main terminal) 100c for the BTO 100. The base terminal 105b and the gate terminal 110g provide control terminals for the BTO 100. The BJT 105 and the GTO 110 may be provided in a common package, and may be selected based on their particular temperature coefficients and/or other characteristics to provide a packaged BTO 100 having a non-negative temperature coefficient and/or other desired characteristics. Although described herein with reference to silicon carbide devices, it will be understood that the BJT 105 and/or the GTO 110 may be fabricated from other wide bandgap semiconductor materials, for example, as described in any of the patents described herein. Also, while FIG. 1 illustrates an npn-type BJT 105 and a p-type thyristor 110, it will be understood that a pnp-type BJT and an n-type thyristor may also be used in some embodiments.

Application of respective control signals to the base 105b and the gate 110g terminals switches the BTO 100 from a nonconducting state (where current does not flow between the anode 100a and cathode 100b) to a conducting state (which allows current flow between the anode 100a and cathode 100c). More particularly, application of a control signal to the gate 110g causes the SiC GTO 110 to “latch” into a conductive or “on” state, which allows current flow between the anode 110a and cathode 110c. Likewise, application of a control signal to the base 105b causes the SiC BJT 105 to turn on, conducting current between the collector 105c and emitter 105e terminals. In particular, the control signal applied to the base 105b is sufficient to operate the BJT 105 in the saturation region, e.g., where changes in the base current I_B have little effect on the collector current I_C. As similar current levels may be provided to the base 105b and the gate 110g to activate the BJT 105 and the GTO 110 to a conducting state, respectively, a control circuit may be used to generate and supply the control signals to both the base 105b of the BJT 105 and the gate 110g of the GTO 110.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example circuit for driving the BTO 100 of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments. Referring now to FIG. 2, the control circuit 200 includes a voltage source 210, a buffer amplifier or driver 205 coupled to the base 105b of the BJT 105, and a bypass stage (illustrated in FIG. 2 as a zener diode 215) coupled between the collector 105c of the BJT 105 and the gate 110g of the GTO 110. The collector 105c of the BJT 105 (e.g., the anode terminal 100a of the BTO 100) is coupled to ground 230, while the cathode 110c of the GTO (e.g., the cathode terminal 100c of the BTO 100) is coupled to the negative connection of supply voltage Vcc 220. The bypass stage is configured to conduct when the voltage drop between the gate 110g of the GTO 110 and the collector 105c of the BJT 105 exceeds the breakdown voltage of the zener diode 215 to provide a fault current limiting feature. Although illustrated with reference to zener diode 215 in FIG. 2, other elements (for example, one or more power diodes connected in series) may be used to implement the bypass stage in some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example circuit 300 for driving the BTO 100 in greater detail in accordance with some embodiments. The control circuit 300 for controlling the BTO 100 includes two anode-referenced voltage sources V1310 and V2320, four switches 301 -304, and a bypass stage, implemented in FIG. 3 by a voltage clamp diode (or zener diode) D1315. V1310 provides the control signal to the base 105c to drive the SiC BJT 105. V2320 provides the control signal to the gate 110g to drive the SiC GTO 110. The clamp diode D1315 has a breakdown voltage Vz that is greater than the voltage provided by V2320.

To turn on the BTO 100 to a conducting state, switches 301 and 303 are closed and switches 302 and 304 are open. Closing switch 301 connects the base 105b to the positive connection of V1310. Being an emitter follower (also referred to as a “common collector”), the base 105b of the SiC BJT 105 should be pulled above the collector potential to place the SiC BJT 105 in saturation. V1310 is used to provide this voltage, and has a voltage rating that is greater than the base-to-emitter voltage drop V_BE of the SiC BJT 105. For example, in some embodiments, V1310 may be configured to provide a voltage of about 3V to about 3.5 V. V1310 is also configured to regulate the base current I_B that is applied to the SiC BJT 105. Closing switch 303 connects the gate 110g of the SiC GTO 110 to the negative connection of V2320, which causes the SiC GTO 110 to transition from a blocking or nonconducting state to a conducting state. The voltage rating of V2320 is also set to a value somewhat higher than the forward voltage of the anode-to-gate junction of the SiC GTO 110. For example, in some embodiments, V2330 may be configured to provide a voltage of about 3V to about 3.5 V. V2320 is also configured to regulate the gate current I_G that is applied to the SiC GTO 110. As such, when the BJT 105 and the GTO 110 are both switched to a conducting state, a load current may flow between the anode 100a and cathode 100c terminals of the BTO 100.

To turn off the BTO 100 to a blocking or nonconducting state, switches 301 and 303 are opened and switches 302 and 304 are closed. The opening of switch 301 and the closing of switch 302 tie the base 105b of the SiC BJT 105 to the negative terminal of V2320, thereby turning off the SiC BJT 105. The opening of switch 303 and the closing of switch 304 tie the gate 110g of the SiC GTO 110 to the anode 100a of the BTO 100. As a result, the load current is commutated from the BTO anode 100a to the GTO gate 110g. This causes the anode-to-gate junction of the SiC GTO 110 to be reverse biased, resulting in rapid turn-off of the SiC GTO 110.

Still referring to FIG. 3, the control circuit 300 including the BTO 100 according to some embodiments of the present invention provides a fault current limiting feature. In particular, the SiC BJT 105 remains in hard saturation so long as its collector current I_C is below the product of the base current I_B and the current gain β of the SiC BJT 105. Once this criterion is no longer met, the SiC BJT 105 enters its active region and limits the current to the product of the base current I_B and current gain β. This causes the collector-to-emitter voltage V_CE of the SiC BJT 105 to rapidly increase, and as a result, the SiC GTO gate-to-SiC BJT collector voltage also increases at a corresponding rate. The voltage drop between the gate 110g and the collector 105e rises until it exceeds the breakdown voltage V_Z of the clamp diode D1315, at which point the clamp diode D1315 begins to conduct. The clamp or breakdown voltage Vz is greater than the voltage provided by V2320, which prevents clamp diode D1315 from conducting in normal operation. The combination of the increase in the collector-to-emitter voltage V_CE of the SiC BJT 105 and the clamping of the SiC BJT collector 105c to the SiC GTO gate 110g by clamp diode D1315 causes the anode-to-gate junction of the SiC GTO 110 to be reverse biased. This forces the load current to commutate from the BTO anode 100a to the GTO gate 110g, which rapidly turns off the SiC GTO 110, thereby interrupting the fault current.

Another example control circuit 400 according to some embodiments of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, the control circuit 400 uses a BJT Q2425 as the commutation element for the SiC GTO 110. Referring now to FIG. 4, when the BTO 100 is in the conducting state, a load current flows from the anode terminal 100a of the BTO 100, through SiC BJT Q1105 and the SiC GTO 110, and to the cathode terminal 100c of the BTO 100. The remainder of the circuit 400 is used to control the SiC GTO 110 and the SiC BJT Q1105. In particular, the control circuit 400 includes an optically triggered driver 401 (including a light emitting diode or other light source 401a and an inverting driver 401b) to provide an isolated turn on/turn off signal, an inverting driver INV 402 and a non-inverting driver BUF 403, a low-voltage n-type metal-oxide semiconductor (NMOS) transistor 404 and a resistor R1405 to provide turn-on gate current for the SiC GTO 110, and a bypass stage (including BJT Q2425 and zener diode D1415), which is used to clamp the SiC GTO gate 110g during commutation and fault conditions. The BTO 100 includes the cascode SiC BJT Q1105 and the SiC GTO 110. The cathode terminal 100c of the BTO 100 is coupled to the negative terminal of supply voltage Vcc 220. Two floating DC voltage sources, V1′ 410 and V2′ 420, which are referenced to the grounded anode terminal 100a of the BTO 100, are used to supply power.

Operation of the example control circuit 400 of FIG. 4, as described in detail below, is based on the following implementation. In particular, the reference point or ground 230 for the drive voltages is the anode terminal 100a of the BTO 100. The outputs of the inverting driver INV 402 and the non-inverting driver BUF 403 provide both positive and negative potentials referenced to the anode terminal 100a of the BTO 100. The voltage swing is from +V1′ (high) and −V2′ (low), where the voltages provided by V1′ 410 and V2′ 420 may be similar to those provided by the voltage sources V1310 and V2320, respectively, of FIG. 3. The magnitude of the voltage provided by voltage source V1′ 410 and the current sourcing capability of the inverting driver INV 402 and non-inverting driver BUF 403 are sufficient to pull the emitters of SiC BJT Q1105 and BJT Q2425 to anode potential under many (if not all) collector current conditions. The magnitude of the voltage provided by voltage source V2′ 420 and the current capability of the NMOS transistor 404 are sufficient to turn on the SiC GTO 110 (when SiC BJT Q1105 is conducting) under many (if not all) load current conditions. Adequate current limiting is provided on the outputs of the inverting driver INV 402, the non-inverting driver BUF 403, and the NMOS transistor 404 to allow safe operation under many (if not all) operating conditions.

Still referring to FIG. 4, the blocking or nonconducting state of the BTO 100 is described as follows. When the SiC GTO 110 is in the blocking or nonconducting state and light is not provided by the light source 401a to trigger the optically triggered driver 401, the output of inverting driver INV 402 is at a voltage −V2′, and the output of non-inverting driver BUF 403 is at a voltage +V1′. As a result, SiC BJT Q1105 and NMOS transistor 404 are in the “off” or blocking state, and BJT Q2425 is in “on” or conducting state. This effectively ties the SiC GTO gate 110g to the BTO anode 100a, providing a robust blocking state with relatively high immunity to changes in voltage over time (dV/dt).

The transition from the blocking state to the conducting state of the BTO 100 is as follows. When light is provided by the light source 401a to trigger the optically triggered driver 401 to provide the turn on signal, the output of inverting driver INV 402 swings to +V1′, and the output of non-inverting driver BUF 403 swings to −V2′. As a result, BJT Q2425 is turned off, and SiC BJT Q1105 and NMOS transistor 404 are turned on. With SiC BJT Q1105 in the conducting state, the anode 110a of SiC GTO 110 is strongly connected to the anode terminal 100a of the BTO 100. This causes current to flow from DC voltage source V2′ 420 through NMOS transistor 404, to resistor R1405, into the gate 110g of the SiC GTO 110, through the anode 110a of the SiC GTO 110, and back to DC voltage source V2′ 420. This action forward biases the gate 110g of the SiC GTO 110, with the gate current I_G limited by the resistance of resistor R1405. This puts the BTO 100 in the conducting state, and a load current flows between the anode terminal 100a and the cathode terminal 100c. During this time, NMOS transistor 404 may be biased in such a way to limit its drain current to a level appropriate to drive the SiC GTO gate 110g.

Operation of the BTO 100 in the conducting state is as follows. The load current flows into the anode terminal 100a of the BTO 100, into the collector 105c and out of the emitter 105e of SiC BJT Q1105, into the anode 110a and out of the cathode 110c of the SiC GTO 110, and out of the cathode terminal 100c of the BTO 100. The SiC BJT Q1105 and the SiC GTO 110 are connected in series to decrease the anode-to-cathode voltage drop of the SiC GTO 110. In particular, the SiC BJT 105 has a positive temperature coefficient, where the collector-to-emitter voltage drop V_CE increases with increases in operating temperature. As such, SiC BJT Q1105 in each packaged BTO 100 according to some embodiments of the present invention may be specifically selected based on its positive temperature coefficient for the forward voltage drop and based on the negative temperature coefficient of the SiC GTO 110 to reduce and/or effectively negate the negative temperature coefficient of the SiC GTO 110, and may even provide a positive temperature coefficient for the BTO 100 in some embodiments. The negative temperature coefficient of the SiC GTO 110 may make static current sharing difficult in parallel arrays of conventional SiC GTOs. Accordingly, by employing the SiC BJT Q1105 in series with the SiC GTO 110, the BTO 100 may have a non-negative (e.g., near-zero or even positive) temperature coefficient, which may promote more even current distribution and ease in paralleling BTOs according to some embodiments of the present invention.

The transition from the conducting state to the blocking state of the BTO 100 is as follows. When the light is not provided by the light source 401a to trigger the optically triggered driver 401, the output of inverting driver INV 402 driver swings to −V2′, and the output of non-inverting driver BUF 403 swings to +V1′. As a result, SiC BJT Q1105 and NMOS transistor 404 are turned off, and BJT Q2425 is turned on. With the SiC BJT Q1105 in a nonconducting state, the anode 110a of the SiC GTO 110 is disconnected from the anode terminal 100a of the BTO 100. With BJT Q2425 in a conducting state and NMOS transistor 404 in a nonconducting state, the gate 110g of the SiC GTO 110 is disconnected from the voltage source V2′ 420 and is connected to the anode terminal 100a of the BTO 100. Accordingly, the load current is commutated from the anode terminal 100a into the gate 110g of the SiC GTO 110, causing the SiC GTO 110 to be rapidly turned off.

Embodiments of the present invention as illustrated in FIG. 4 may also provide an over current feature that turns off the SiC GTO 110 in the event that the load current exceeds a predetermined value. More particularly, the collector current k provided by SiC BJT Q1105 may be determined by the product of its base current I_B and its current gain β. When this value is exceeded, SiC BJT Q1105 enters its linear region and begins to behave as a constant current source. As a result, the collector-to-emitter voltage V_CE of SiC BJT Q1105 may rapidly increase, which results in an increase in the voltage between the BTO anode terminal 100a and the SiC GTO gate 110g. When the anode-to-gate voltage drop exceeds the breakdown voltage of zener diode D1415, the diode D1415 will conduct, causing BJT Q2425 to clamp the gate voltage to a predetermined level. As the fault current increases, the collector-to-emitter voltage V_CE across SiC BJT Q1105 will further increase, thereby reverse biasing the anode-to-gate junction of the SiC GTO 110 and causing the SiC GTO 110 to turn off, interrupting the load current. The voltage at which BJT Q2425 clamps the gate 110g of the SiC GTO 110 may be selected to prevent damage to the control circuit 400.

As discussed above with reference to FIG. 4, SiC BJT Q1105 may be selected to support continuous full load current in the conducting state, and to support voltage V2′ when in the blocking state. During conduction, the collector-to-emitter voltage drop V_CE across SiC BJT Q1105 should remain low enough to forward bias the anode-to-gate junction of the SiC GTO 110. BJT Q2425 may also be selected to support full load current in the conducting state (e.g., during the commutation of the SiC GTO 110), and to support voltage V2′ when in the blocking state. During conduction, the collector-to-emitter voltage drop V_CE across BJT Q2425 should be less than V2′, to reduce and/or prevent possible damage to NMOS transistor 404.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are graphs illustrating current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of a BTO according to some embodiments of the present invention. In particular, FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate forward I-V characteristics of an SiC BTO according to some embodiments of the present invention that includes a 10 kV SiC GTO and a 1600 V SiC BJT. As shown in FIG. 5, such a configuration provides a positive temperature coefficient, as the on-resistance of the BTO increases with temperature. In particular, the on-resistance of the BTO increases (illustrated by the increased voltage drop across the BTO) as the operating temperature increases, as shown by lines 505 (room temperature), 510 (about 100° C.), 515 (about 150° C.), and 520 (about 200° C.). FIG. 6 illustrates that a SiC BTO according to some embodiments of the present invention provides current saturation capability as operating temperature increases, as shown by line 605 (room temperature) and line 610 (about 200° C.).

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a SiC BTO 100 according to some embodiments of the present invention that includes a bipolar transistor 105 and a thyristor 110 on a common substrate. In some embodiments, the bipolar transistor 105 and the thyristor 110 described in detail above may be fabricated and/or subsequently provided on an n-type 4H silicon carbide layer 52. SiC bipolar transistors are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,394, while SiC thyristors are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,217, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

As shown in FIG. 7, a BTO 100 according to some embodiments includes an n-type layer 52. A contact 100c/110c is provided on the n-type layer 52, and provides the cathode terminal for both the BTO 100 and the GTO 110. A p-type drift layer 54 is provided on the n-type layer 52, an n-type base layer 56 is provided on the p-type drift layer 54. A gate contact 110g for the GTO 110 is provided on a highly doped n+ region 57 of the n-type base layer 56. A p-type layer 58 is provided on the n-type base layer 56, and an n-type layer 60 is provided on the p-type layer 58. Contacts 105e and 110a are provided on the n-type layer 60 and the p-type layer 58 as an emitter terminal for the BJT 105 and an anode terminal for the GTO 110, respectively. A p-type layer 62 is provided on the n-type layer 60. The p-type layer 62 includes a highly doped p+ region 63, and a highly-doped n+ region 64. A base contact 105b for the BJT 105 is provided on the highly-doped p+ region 63, and a contact 100a/105c is provided on the highly-doped n+ region 64 as an anode terminal for the BTO 100 and a collector terminal for the BJT 105.

Accordingly, the n-type region 64, the p-type layer 62, and the n-type layer 60 define the SiC BJT 105. The contact 105b on the p+ region 63 provides the base terminal of the BJT 105, the contact 100a/105c on the n+ region 64 provides the collector terminal of the BJT 105 (and the anode terminal of the BTO 100), and the contact 105e on the n-type layer 60 provides the emitter terminal of the BJT. Also, the p-type layer 58, the n-type base layer 56, the p-type drift layer 54, and the n-type layer 52 define the SiC GTO 110. The contact 110g on the n-type base layer 56 provides the gate terminal of the GTO 110, the contact 110a on the p-type layer 58 provides the anode terminal of the GTO 110, and the contact 100c/110c on the n-type layer 52 provides the cathode terminal of the GTO 110 (and the cathode terminal of the BTO 100). The n-type layer 60, which provides the BJT emitter, is directly on the p-type layer 58, which provides the GTO anode, such that the BJT 105 and the GTO 110 are connected in series.

Embodiments of the present invention as described above with reference to FIGS. 1-7 can be achieved by monolithic integration or a hybrid combination of the bipolar transistor 105 and the thyristor 110. As used herein, a “hybrid” bipolar power switching device may refer to a cascode configuration and/or other combination of a discrete bipolar transistor 105 and a discrete thyristor 110. A “monolithic” bipolar power switching device may refer to a device where both the bipolar transistor 105 and the thyristor 110 are fabricated in the same semiconductor chip and/or substrate. A packaged bipolar power switching device according to some embodiments of the present invention may include both monolithic and hybrid combinations of the bipolar transistor 105 and the thyristor 110.

While the above embodiments are described with reference to particular figures, it is to be understood that some embodiments of the present invention may include additional and/or intervening layers, structures, or elements, and/or particular layers, structures, or elements may be deleted. More generally, the foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although a few exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the claims. Therefore, it is to be understood that the foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, and that modifications to the disclosed embodiments, as well as other embodiments, are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. The invention is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising: a wide bandgap thyristor having an anode terminal, a cathode terminal, and a gate terminal; anda wide bandgap bipolar transistor having a base terminal, a collector terminal, and an emitter terminal, the emitter terminal of the bipolar transistor being coupled to the anode terminal of the thyristor,wherein at least one of the bipolar transistor and the thyristor is selected such that, as an operating temperature increases, an increase in an on-resistance between the collector and emitter terminals of the bipolar transistor is greater than or substantially equal to a decrease in an on-resistance between the anode and cathode terminals of the thyristor.

2. An electronic device, comprising: a wide bandgap thyristor having an anode terminal, a cathode terminal, and a gate terminal;a wide bandgap bipolar transistor having a base terminal, a collector terminal, and an emitter terminal, the emitter terminal of the bipolar transistor being coupled to the anode terminal of the thyristor, wherein the bipolar transistor and the thyristor define a wide bandgap bipolar power switching device; anda control circuit configured to generate first and second control signals, supply the second control signal to the gate terminal of the thyristor and supply the first control signal to the base terminal of the bipolar transistor to switch the bipolar power switching device to a conducting state such that a load current flows between the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor and the cathode terminal of the thyristor,wherein the control circuit is further configured to couple the gate terminal of the thyristor to the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor such that the load current is commutated to the gate terminal of the thyristor to switch the bipolar power switching device to a nonconducting state.

3. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the control circuit comprises: a first voltage source configured to generate the first control signal configured to switch the bipolar transistor to a conductive state;a second voltage source configured to generate the second control signal configured to switch the thyristor to a conductive state;a first switching element configured to couple the first voltage source to the base terminal of the bipolar transistor to supply the first control signal thereto;a second switching element configured to couple the second voltage source to the gate terminal of the thyristor to supply the second control signal thereto; anda third switching element configured to couple the gate terminal of the thyristor to the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor.

4. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the control circuit comprises: a first switching element coupled to the gate terminal of the thyristor;an inverting driver device configured to provide the first control signal to the base terminal of the bipolar transistor and configured to switch the first switching element to provide the second control signal to the gate terminal of the thyristor;a second switching element coupled between the gate terminal of the thyristor and the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor; anda noninverting driver device configured to switch the second switching element to couple the gate terminal of the thyristor to the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor.

5. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein: the first switching element comprises a wide bandgap metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor having a source/drain terminal coupled to the gate terminal of the thyristor and a gate terminal coupled to an output of the inverting driver device; andthe second switching element comprises a wide bandgap commutating bipolar transistor having a collector terminal coupled to the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor, an emitter terminal coupled to the gate terminal of the thyristor, and a base terminal coupled to an output of the noninverting driver device.

6. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the control circuit further comprises: an optically triggered driver device configured to provide an output signal responsive to light applied thereto,wherein the inverting driver device and the noninverting driver device are coupled to an output of the optically triggered driver device,wherein the inverting driver device is configured to provide the first control signal to the base terminal of the bipolar transistor and configured to switch the MOS transistor to a conducting state to provide the second control signal to the gate terminal of the thyristor when light is applied to the optically triggered driver device,and wherein the noninverting driver device is configured to switch the commutating bipolar transistor to a conducting state to couple the collector terminal of the first bipolar transistor to the gate terminal of the thyristor when light is not applied to the optically triggered driver device.

7. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the control circuit further comprises: a bypass stage coupled between the gate terminal of the thyristor and the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor and configured to conduct current therebetween to switch the bipolar power switching device to the nonconducting state when the current between the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor and the cathode terminal of the thyristor exceeds a predetermined level.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the bypass stage comprises a zener diode that is configured to conduct when the voltage drop between the collector of the bipolar transistor and the gate of the thyristor exceeds a breakdown voltage of the zener diode.

9. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the bypass stage further comprises a commutating bipolar transistor having a collector terminal coupled to the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor, an emitter terminal coupled to the gate terminal of the thyristor, and a base terminal coupled to the zener diode, wherein the commutating bipolar transistor is configured to be switched to a conducting state responsive to conduction of the zener diode to provide the load current to the gate terminal of the thyristor and switch the bipolar power switching device to the nonconducting state.

10. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the bypass stage comprises a plurality of power diodes connected in series between the gate terminal of the thyristor and the collector terminal of the bipolar transistor.

11. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the bipolar transistor and the thyristor are included in a common package, wherein an on-resistance between the anode and cathode terminals of the thyristor decreases as operating temperature of the thyristor increases, and wherein an on-resistance between the collector and emitter terminals of the bipolar transistor increases as operating temperature of the bipolar transistor increases.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the increase in the on-resistance of the bipolar transistor is greater than the decrease in the on-resistance of the thyristor as the respective operating temperatures increase such that an electrical resistance of the bipolar power switching device in the conducting state increases as operating temperature of the bipolar power switching device increases.

13. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the increase in the on-resistance of the bipolar transistor is substantially similar to the decrease in the on-resistance of the thyristor as the respective operating temperatures increase such that an electrical resistance of the bipolar power switching device in the conducting state does not substantially change as operating temperature of the bipolar power switching device increases.

14. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the bipolar power switching device is configured to provide current saturation capability when the bipolar transistor is operated in the active region.

15. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the bipolar transistor comprises a silicon carbide bipolar junction transistor (BJT), and wherein the thyristor comprises a silicon carbide gate turn-off thyristor (GTO).

16. A packaged bipolar turn-off thyristor device, comprising: a wide bandgap gate turn-off thyristor (GTO) having an anode terminal, a cathode terminal, and a gate terminal; anda wide bandgap bipolar junction transistor (BJT) having a base terminal, a collector terminal, and an emitter terminal, the emitter terminal of the BJT being directly coupled to the anode terminal of the GTO,wherein an on-resistance between the anode and cathode terminals of the GTO decreases as an operating temperature of the GTO increases, wherein an on-resistance between the collector and emitter terminals of the BJT increases as an operating temperature of the BJT increases, and wherein at least one of the BJT and the GTO is selected such that the increase in the on-resistance of the BJT is greater than or substantially equal to the decrease in the on-resistance of the GTO.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the GTO comprises: a substrate of a first conductivity type having the cathode terminal thereon;a drift layer of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type on the substrate opposite the cathode terminal;a base layer of the first conductivity type on the drift layer and having the gate terminal thereon; anda first layer of the second conductivity type on the base layer and having the anode terminal thereon,and wherein the BJT comprises:a layer of the first conductivity type directly on the first layer of the second conductivity type and having the emitter terminal thereon; anda second layer of the second conductivity type on the layer of the first conductivity type, the second layer including a highly doped first region of the first conductivity type therein having the collector terminal thereon, and a highly doped second region of the second conductivity type therein having the base terminal thereon.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the first conductivity type comprises n-type, and wherein the second conductivity type comprises p-type.

19. The device of claim 17, wherein the substrate and the layers thereon comprise silicon carbide.