ERA122

Semiconductor and
Power electronics

Reza Fachrizal
[email protected]
Postdoctoral Researcher
Future Energy Center
Mälardalen University, Sweden

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HT2023
 Electric power engineering

Electrical energy Electric power systems High voltages engineering

conversions - Transmission systems - Lightning protection
- Transformers - Distribution systems systems
- Electrical machines - Power systems control - Insulation systems
- Power electronics and protection - High voltage equipments

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 Outline

● Semiconductor
● Difference between insulator, conductor and
semiconductor
● Physical properties
● Diode
● Transistor (MOSFET, BJT, IGBT)
● Application for energy systems: power electronics
● DC-DC buck, boost, buck-boost
● DC-AC (inverter)
● AC-DC (rectifier)
● AC-AC (back-to-back converter)

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 What are semiconductors?

There are three categories of

solids, based on their conducting
properties:
• conductors
• semiconductors
• insulators

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 What are semiconductors?

Some examples:

LED
Solar cell
Computer processor

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What are semiconductors?

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 What are semiconductors?

• The electrons in an atom are organized in layers. These layers are

called shells. The outermost shell is called the valence shell.

• If all the neighboring atoms are of the same type, it’s possible for all the
valence electrons to bind with valence electrons from other atoms. When that
happens, the atoms arrange themselves into structures called crystals.
Semiconductors are made out of such crystals, usually silicon crystals.

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 Most used semiconductor : Silicon

Most used semiconductor:

● Silicon
● Basic building material of most integrated circuits
● Has four valence electrons, in its lattice there are 4 covalent bonds.
● Silicon crystal itself is an insulator: no free electrons
 Semiconductors : Doping
● Pure silicon crystals are not all that useful electronically.

● Electric conductibility in the Silicon crystal is increased by rising the

temperature (not useful for our scope) and by doping.

● Doping consists in adding small amounts of neighbor elements.

● if you introduce small amounts of other elements (Phosphorous, Boron)

into a crystal, the crystal starts to conduct in an interesting way.
 Semiconductors : Doping
Two Dopant Types
1. N-type (Negative)
• Donor impurities (from Group V) added to the Si crystal lattice.
• Dominant mobile charge carrier: negative electrons.
➢ Group V elements such as Phosphorous, Arsenic, and
Antimony.
2. P-type (Positive)
• Acceptor impurities (from Group III) added to the Si crystal
lattice.
• Dominant mobile charge carrier: positive holes.
➢ Group III elements such as Boron, Aluminum, and Gallium.
 P-N junction : Diodes

● If a P-type and an N-type material are brought

close to each other, both of them join to form a
PN junction, as shown in the figure below.
● It’s also called Junction Diode
● Allows current to flow from P to N only
● A diode is an electrical component acting as a
one-way valve for current.
 Forward biasing , Reverse biasing

• When a diode is connected in a circuit, it has two states depending on how its terminal
are connected to the supply: reverse-biased and forward-biased
Forward-biased
Reverse-biased Voltage across
the diode VD=0,7 V (Silicon)
VD=0,3 V (Germanium)
(-) (+)
(+) (-)

(A) (K) (K) (A)

This condition represents a high resistance This condition represents the low resistance
value to the PN junction and practically path through the PN junction allowing very
zero current flows through the junction large currents to flow through the diode
diode
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 Diode characteristics

● Forward biased (on)- Current flows

● It needs about 0.7 V to start conduction (Vd )
● Reversed biased (off)- Diode blocks current
● Ideal: Current flow = 0
● Real : Iflow= 10-6 Amps (reverse saturation current)

V threshold
 Diodes Application: AC to DC conversion

• A widely used application of diodes is in the conversion of an alternating

voltage (AC) into a continuous voltage (DC) called Rectification (Half Wave
Rectification, Full Wave Rectification)
• If an alternating voltage is applied across a diode, during the positive half cycle
the diode will conduct passing current and during the negative half cycle the
diode will not conduct blocking the flow of current.
• Then conduction through the diode only occurs during the positive half cycle
and is therefore unidirectional

Half Wave Rectification Full Wave Rectification

The Diode Bridge Rectifier
AC Input
Output

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 Diodes Application: AC to DC conversion

Full Wave Rectifier : using The Diode Bridge Rectifier

The Positive Half-cycle The Negative Half-cycle

The four diodes labelled D1 to D4 are arranged in “series pairs” with only two
diodes conducting current during each half cycle. During the positive half cycle of
the supply, diodes D1 and D2 conduct in series while diodes D3 and D4 are
reverse biased and the current flows through the load as shown below
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Diodes Application
AC to DC conversion circuit

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 Diodes:
Exercise

For the diode below determine VD, VR

and ID

Answer
VD =0.7 V ( for Silicone diode)
Using equivalent circuit and KVL

E – VD - ID. R =0 8 – 0.7 - 2.2 ID=0

ID = (8- 0.7)/ 2.2 = 3.32 mA

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 Zener diodes: characteristics

• Zener diodes are a special kind of diode which permits current to flow in the
reverse direction.

• What makes them different from other diodes is that Zener diodes will also
allow current to flow in the reverse direction when the voltage is above a
certain value known as Zener voltage.

• In reverse bias mode, Zener diode do not conduct until the applied voltage
exceeds or reaches a certain voltage i.e. Zener voltage at which the diode is able
to conduct current up to the specified level without harming the device

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 Zener diodes: Specifications

• Voltage Vz: The Zener voltage refers to the reverse voltage:2.4 V to about 200 V

• Current Iz (max.): Maximum current at the rated Zener voltage Vz: 200 uA to 200 A.

• Power rating: The maximum power the Zener diode can dissipate; given by the
product of voltage across the diode and the current flowing through.

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 Diodes REVIEW:

•A diode is an electrical component acting as a one-way valve for current.

•When voltage is applied across a diode in such a way that the diode allows
current, the diode is said to be forward-biased.

•When voltage is applied across a diode in such a way that the diode prohibits
current, the diode is said to be reverse-biased.

•The voltage dropped across a conducting, forward-biased diode is called

the forward voltage. Forward voltage for a diode varies only slightly for changes
in forward current and temperature, and is fixed by the chemical composition of
the P-N junction:
➢ Silicon diodes have a forward voltage of approximately 0.7 volts.
➢ Germanium diodes have a forward voltage of approximately 0.3 volts

• Diode blocks current in the reverse direction, but will suffer from premature
breakdown or damage if the reverse voltage applied across becomes too high
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 Transistor

● A transistor is a semiconductor device that can be used for amplification,

switching, signal modulation, and various other electronic functions. It
consists of semiconductor material (such as silicon or germanium) with at
least three layers of semiconductor material. These layers are known as the
emitter, base, and collector.
 Transistor
Transistor is commonly used as controllable switches. Transistors have
controlled turn-ON and turn-OFF characteristics and can be used as
switching elements

An ideal controllable switch

● Blocks any forward/reverse voltage with zero current flow (𝑖_switch = 0)
when OFF
● Conducts arbitrarily large current with zero voltage drop (𝑣_switch = 0)
when ON
● Switches immediately between ON-OFF when triggered
● Does not consume power from the control when triggered
 Transistor
The controllable switches we use in Power Electronics are:
● MOSFETs (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors)
● BJTs (Bipolar Junction Transistors)
● IGBTs (Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistors)

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Transistor
 Electronics

Signal Electronics
Konverter Sinyal Power Electronics
Konverter Sinyal
InputSinyal
signal
masuk Output
Sinyal keluarsignal InputSinyal
powermasuk Output
Sinyal keluar power

Input
Dayapower
masuk Input signal
Daya masuk

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 Why power electronics are important

Power electronics plays a significant role in sustainable energy

technologies, including renewable energy systems (RES), electric
vehicles (EVs), and energy storage systems like batteries. The
interplay between DC and AC is crucial in these applications.

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Power electronics

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 AC-DC converter (Rectifier)

A rectifier is an electronic device that converts alternating current (AC) to

direct current (DC). The primary function of a rectifier is to rectify or
convert the alternating flow of electric charge, which periodically reverses
direction, into a unidirectional or direct flow.

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Example: Charging EVs from the AC grid
AC-DC converter (Rectifier)

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Topology example
Three phase AC-DC converter (Rectifier)

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 DC-AC converter (Inverter)

An inverter is an electronic device that converts direct current (DC) into

alternating current (AC). Inverters are essential components in various
applications where the power source or load operates with a different type
of current than what is initially available.

Example: grid-connected PV systems

DC-AC converter (Inverter)

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Three phase DC-AC converter (Inverter)
 DC-DC converter (Chopper)

A DC-DC converter is the DC equivalent to the AC transformer: we can

step-up and step-down the dc voltage source in a continuous way and
therefore adapt to changes in the supply voltage or changes in the
desired output voltage

High voltage DC (HVDC) lines

DC-DC converter (Chopper)

Buck converter
Stepping down voltage

Boost converter
Stepping up voltage

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 AC-AC converter (back-to-back converter)

An AC-AC converter is a type of power electronic device that allows

for the conversion of alternating current (AC) at one voltage level and
frequency to AC at a different voltage level and/or frequency. AC-AC
converters are versatile devices used in various applications, including
power supply systems, motor control, and voltage regulation.

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Example: back-to-back converter for double-fed induction generator
AC-AC converter (back-to-back)

Example topology

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 AC DC DC
DC DC DC

AC DC DC DC
AC AC AC AC

AC Grid

High Voltage DC
AC transmission DC Buck
DC DC converter

DC Grid

AC DC
DC DC

DC DC
DC DC
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 Summary: Today we were introduced to

● Semiconductor
● Difference between insulator, conductor and semiconductor
● Physical properties
● Diode
● Transistor (MOSFET, BJT, IGBT)
● Application for energy systems: power electronics
● DC-DC (chopper) buck, boost, buck-boost
● DC-AC (inverter)
● AC-DC (rectifier)
● AC-AC (back-to-back converter)

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