Updates on Impact Ionisation Triggering of Thyristors

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This manuscript “Updates on Impact Ionisation triggering of Thyristors” presents a triggering methodology for high voltage pulse generators using industrial thyristors and compact pulse generator components. The proposed approach aims to enhance thyristor switching characteristics, achieving sub-nanosecond performance and high output current. The authors also discuss incorporating a Marx generator to address limitations in output voltage and future scalability. While the experimental results are comprehensive, several improvements are necessary before publication.

 

1. The significance of the research conducted by the authors should be emphasized in the introduction. It should clearly articulate the importance of improving high voltage pulse generator performance and its potential impact on industrial and scientific applications. Additionally, referencing most recent relevant works in the field would provide context and demonstrate the novelty of the authors' contributions.

 

2. The experimental investigation under a 4 Ω load to evaluate the performance enhancement from increased SiC MOSFETs is commendable. However, additional insights into the specific improvements in terms of efficiency, stability, and reliability would enhance the significance of the findings.

 

3. The emphasis on fast rise times and low total gate charge reflects a clear understanding of the importance of switching speed and efficiency in pulse generation. By prioritizing transistors with these characteristics, the driver can achieve rapid switching transitions while minimizing the strain on the driving circuitry. However, it would be beneficial to provide more detailed analysis or experimental validation of how these parameters impact the overall performance of the driver.

 

4. Including a comparative analysis with previous results of the performance of the driver circuit. This could highlight the specific benefits and improvements achieved through the integration, such as enhanced switching speed or increased output capability.

 

5. Providing insights into practical implementation aspects, such as thermal management, component reliability, and scalability, would enhance the manuscript's applicability.

 

6. Improvements are needed in formatting and data graphics. Many individual sentences do not need to be a paragraph, and image data should be marked with key performance parameters and other relevant information.

 

Author Response

Please see attachment.

Some minor changes (typos) have been introduced in the latest submitted manuscript. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This manuscript does not include sufficient scientific contribution or innovation for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. In addition, the organization and structure of its sections must be significantly improved. This manuscript requires more experimental results to validate the results of the proposed method. Also, the following issues must be considered:

1.- The abstract should add the main results of the proposed method and conclusions.

2.- The introduction is weak. This section must incorporate critical discussions of papers on triggering methods reported in the literature. Furthermore, this section must considers the main scientific contribution or innovation and advantages of the proposed method compared to others reported in the literature. Also, this section contains several paragraphs with short descriptions. 

3.- The description and figures to describe the proposed method in the second section must be significantly enhanced. All the figures of the second section must improve the description of their captions. In addition, quality of Figures 3, and 4 must be enhanced.This second section is very confusing.

4.- The third section is very short. This section is weak. The description of this section must be improved. The Figure 8 contains labels that have interference with the axes of this Figure.

5.- This manuscript requires more experimental results to validate the proposed method.

6.- The discussions of the main results must be enhanced.

7.- The authors must include the main advantages or challenges of the proposed method?

8.- The conclusions must be enhanced.

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The English grammar and style can be improved.

Author Response

Please see attachment.

Some minor changes (typos) have been introduced in the latest submitted manuscript. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

High voltage generators have wide industrial applications. In this paper, authors designed a compact pulse generator which exhibits excellent sub-nanosecond performance and long lifetime. Some minor suggestions are listed as below.

1.     Please shortly discuss the microstrip structure and functions.

2.     Is the normally-off GaN HEMT adopted in this design? How to drive it?

Author Response

Please see attachment.

Some minor changes (typos) have been introduced in the latest submitted manuscript. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This second version of the manuscript was improved considering the reviewer's comments.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

English grammar was improved.

Author Response

Thank you for your review. I have further checked the use of English in the manuscript.