Semiconductor switching apparatus and method of controlling a semiconductor switching element

摘要

A semiconductor switching apparatus is provided having an inductance in a path (R1) from a gate electrode (3G) of a GTO (3) through a gate driver (4) and a node (13) to a cathode electrode (3K). The inductance (4c) is determined so that a turn-off gain (G) may be not more than 1. At a turn-off, a main current (IA) is entirely commutated from the gate electrode (3G) towards the node (13) through the gate driver (4) in a direction reverse to a turn-off control current (IG). A peak voltage suppressing circuit (5) clamps an anode-cathode voltage (VA-K) to a prescribed voltage value for a prescribed time.