Two-dimensional analysis of surge response in thyristor lightningsurge protection devices

摘要

The dynamics of surge response, which influences surge-handlingcapability, for thyristor lightning surge protection devices wereinvestigated by a two-dimensional numerical device simulation. Maximumpower dissipation appears in the open-base avalanche transistoroperation at turn-on. The power dissipation increases by a few orders ofmagnitude with increase in the input surge. On the other hand, turn-ontime is shorter and changes by less than one order of magnitude, causedby the field-aiding effect. As a result, the energy dissipation, whichconverts to self-heating and influences surge-handling capability,increases with increase in the input surge. To improve surge-handlingcapability by designing for low energy dissipation, fast switching timeis effective for the open-base avalanche transistor which has narrowbase width and uses a thin substrate with large carrier lifetime