Editing Thyristor (section)

== History ==

The silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) or thyristor proposed by [[William Shockley]] in 1950 and championed by Moll and others at [[Bell Labs]] was developed in 1956 by power engineers at [[General Electric]] (GE), led by Gordon Hall and commercialized by GE's Frank W. "Bill" Gutzwiller.  The [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]] recognized the invention by placing a plaque at the invention site in [[Clyde, New York]], and declaring it an IEEE Historic Milestone.

In 1960, [[Transitron Electronic Corporation]] marketed an PNPN [[Tetrode transistor|tetrode]] with a high current gain at the time referred to as ''Binistor''.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |date=April 10, 2017 |orig-date=October 12, 1960 |title=Binistor For Storage and Switching |url=https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/memory-lane/binistor-storage-switching-2017-05/ |journal=[[Electronics Weekly]] |issn=0013-5224}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |date=May 19, 2020 |orig-date=October 12, 1960 |title=Transitron Launches Binistor|url=https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/memory-lane/binistor-storage-switching-2017-05/ |journal=[[Electronics Weekly]] |issn=0013-5224}}</ref> Device was predicted to be applied both in switching and data storage circuits.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> One research paper using Transitron's tetrode  demonstrated an "unusual" (at the time) switched-mode power supply circuit.<ref name=":3">{{Cite |last=Ballieu L. |first=Howard |title=Ballieu Howard L., The Binistor (Thyristor) as an Electronic Switching Element |date=June 1962 |url=https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/downloads/n296x158t |access-date=April 28, 2025 |url-status=live |place=Oregon |publisher=Oregon State University}}</ref>{{r|:3|p=41|quote=unusual type of regulated power supply..}} 

[[File:Nelson Bipole Thyristors.jpg|thumb|A bank of six 2000 [[ampere|A]] thyristors (white disks arranged in a row at top, and seen edge-on)]]

An earlier [[gas-filled tube]] device called a [[thyratron]] provided a similar electronic switching capability, where a small control voltage could switch a large current. It is from a combination of "thyratron" and "[[transistor]]" that the term "thyristor" is derived.{{r|:0|pp=12}}

In recent years, some manufacturers<ref>Example: [http://powerelectronics.com/news/silicon-carbide-inverter/ ''Silicon Carbide Inverter Demonstrates Higher Power Output''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042639/http://powerelectronics.com/news/silicon-carbide-inverter/ |date=2020-10-22 }} in Power Electronics Technology (2006-02-01)</ref> have developed thyristors using [[silicon carbide]] (SiC) as the semiconductor material. These have applications in high temperature environments, being capable of [[Operating temperature|operating at temperatures]] up to 350°C.