Optically toggled bidirectional switch

摘要

An optically toggled bidirectional normally-on switch is provided with protection against bilateral voltage and bidirectional current surges by the inclusion of a pair of oppositely poled thyristors. One version uses a large junction-type field-effect transistor in its main path and a pair of smaller junction-type transistors in the subsidiary path. A photodiode array controls the gate voltage on each of the transistors and turns them off when illuminated. A control node in the subsidiary path is connected to the gates of the SCRs so that excess current in this path turns on the appropriately-poled thyristor to provide an additional shunt path for the current.