A CMOS COMPATIBLE LATERAL EMITTER SWITCHED THYRISTOR WITH ENHANCED TURN-ON CAPABILITY

A new Lateral Emitter Switched Thyristor structure (LEST) is proposed and experimentally verified. The structure differs from the convention al LEST in that it embeds a floating ohmic contact between the n- drif t region and the n+ floating emitter. Both simulation and experimental results show that the device has an enhanced turn-on capability compa red with the conventional LEST without deteriorating its other charact eristics. The device is fabricated using a 3 mum CMOS process to have a 320 V breakdown voltage and a 0.7 V threshold voltage. Thyristor tur n-on is observed at an anode voltage below 2 V. The maximum MOS contro llable current density is in excess of 200 A/cm2 withf 5 V gate voltag e.