Turn-off semiconductor component and use thereof

Claim 1

Turn-off semiconductor device comprising: a cathode and an anode; a plurality of differently doped layers arranged between said cathode and said anode, said plurality of differently doped layers defining the inner structure of a thyristor which can be turned off via a gate and comprising a four-layer sequence consisting of an outer layer on an anode side which is a p-doped anode layer, an n base layer, a p base layer and an outer layer on a cathode side which is an n-doped cathode layer; a first gate arranged on the cathode side for controlling turning off the device and having a first gate contact, wherein said cathode layer is subdivided into strip-shaped areas by first trenches projecting into the p base layer and the first gate contact is formed at the bottoms of said first trenches, thereby creating a step-like current controlled gate-cathode structure; a weakly p-doped channel layer provided between the n base layer and the anode layer; and a second gate arranged on the anode side and having a second gate contact, wherein said anode layer is subdivided into strip-shaped areas by second trenches projecting into the p channel layer, and the second gate contact is arranged in each case at the bottoms of said second trenches and is separated from the p channel layer by n gate area located thereunder, thereby creating a step-like field-controlled gate-anode structure.