One of the improvements that can be applied to a thyristor is gate shutdown. Basically it has the same structure and operation as the SCR except that it can be deactivated by a pulse on its gate. Whatever the state of the device, this pulse must be of a sufficiently high magnitude. They are also often used for motor control. Its use expanded in the '70s. In direct current circuits, these types of devices do not need external agents in order to turn off the device.

Such a thyristor needs a higher gate current to turn on than a normal SCR. For large power devices, gate currents of the order of 10A are needed. To turn off the device, a negative current pulse is required that should be between 20 and 30 μs in duration. The magnitude of the negative pulsation current should be one fourth or one sixth of the current flowing through the thyristor.