CHAPTER ONE

Introduction to
Power
semiconductors
 Brainstorming

• Say some thing about power electronics?

• Families of power electronics?

• In each family list down power electronics
devices

• Circuit diagrams?

• V-I characteristics?
• Switching time(“on” “of”) characteristics:
 Todays lecture outcomes
The students will be able to:
• Explain elements of semi conductor devices
• Explain operation principles of power
semiconductor devices
• Differentiate semiconductor devices based on
their application
 Definition

• Power electronics may be defined as the

subject of applications of solid state power
semiconductor devices for the control and
conversion of electric power to meet the
desired control objectives or (to control the
output voltage and output power).
 Types of power electronic converters
 AC to DC Converter known as Rectifier done by Power Diode
(uncontrolled) or by SCR (Controlled).

 DC to DC Converter Known as Chopper done by Power BJT,

MOSFET or IGBT.

 DC to AC Converter Known as Inverter done by Power BJT,

MOSFET or IGBT.

 AC to AC Converter known as Cycloconverter for frequency

variation done by Power BJT, MOSFET or IGBT and/or AC-
Voltage Controller for magnitude variation done by TRAIC.

5
All power electronic circuits manage the flow of electrical
energy between some sort of source and a load
The complete concept, shown in Fig. below
,illustrates a power electronic system.
Many different types of semiconductors have been
applied in power electronics. In general, these fall into
three groups:
Diodes : which are used in rectifiers, dc-dc converters,
and in supporting roles.
Transistors : which in general are suitable for control of
single-polarity circuits. the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)
is unique to power electronics and has good characteristics for
applications such as inverters.
Thyristors : which are multi junction semiconductor
devices with latching behavior. Thyristors in general can
be switched with short pulses, and then maintain their
state until current is removed. They act only as switches.
Some of the features of the most common power semiconductors are listed below
 
 Some applications of power electronics
Commercial applications: heating systems ventilating, air
conditioners, central refrigeration, lighting, computers
and office equipment, uninterruptible power supplies
(ups), elevators, and emergency lamps.

Domestic applications: cooking equipment's, lighting,

heating, air conditioners, refrigerators & freezers,
personal computers, entertainment equipment, ups.

Industrial applications: pumps, compressors, blowers

and fans. machine tools, arc furnaces, induction
furnaces, lighting control circuits, industrial lasers,
induction heating, welding equipment's.
Telecommunications: battery chargers, power
supplies (dc and ups), mobile cell phone battery
chargers.

Transportation: traction control of electric vehicles,

battery chargers for electric vehicles, electric trains,
street cars, trolley buses, automobile electronics
including engine controls.

Utility systems: high voltage dc transmission (hvdc),

static var compensation (svc), alternative energy
sources (wind, photovoltaic), fuel cells, energy
storage systems, induced draft fans and boiler feed
 Power Diode
It is a two terminal device, and with terminal A known as the
anode and terminal K known as the cathode.
If terminal A experiences a higher potential compared to terminal
K, the device is said to be forward biased and a forward current
(IF ) will flow through the device in the direction as shown.

This causes a small voltage drop across the device (<1 V), which
under ideal conditions is usually ignored. By contrast, when a
diode is reverse biased, it does not conduct and the diode then
experiences a small current flowing in the reverse direction called
the leakage current.

Both forward voltage drop and leakage current are ignored in an

ideal diode. In PE applications a diode is usually considered to be
an ideal static switch.
 Some Properties of PN Junction
From the forward and reverse-biased condition
characteristics, one notices that when the diode is forward
biased, current rises rapidly as the voltage is increased.
Current in the reverse biased region is significantly small
until the breakdown voltage of the diode is reached.

Once the applied voltage is over this limit, the current will
increase rapidly to a very high value limited only by an
external resistance.
 Common Diode Types
Depending on their applications, diodes can be segregated
into the following major divisions:

Small Signal Diode. These are the semiconductor devices

used most often in a wide variety of applications. In general
purpose applications, they are used as a switch in rectifiers,
limiters, capacitors, and in wave shaping.

Silicon Rectifier Diode. These are the diodes that have high
forward-current carrying capability, typically up to several
hundred amperes. Their primary application is in power
conversion, such as for power supplies, UPS,
rectifiers/inverters etc.
Photodiode. When a semiconductor junction is
exposed to light, photons generate hole-electron
pairs. When these charges diffuse across the
junction, they produce photo current. Hence this
device acts as a source of current that increases with
the intensity of light.

Light-Emitting Diode (LED). Power diodes used in PE

circuits are high-power versions of the commonly
used devices employed in analog and digital circuits.
 Typical Applications of Diodes
A. In rectification. Four diodes can be used to fully rectify an ac
signal as shown in Fig. The direction of the current is decided by
two diodes conducting at any given time. The direction of the
current through the load is always the same. This rectifier
topology is known as the bridge rectifier.

The average rectifier output voltage

Where Vm is the peak input voltage.

The rms rectifier output voltage

This rectifier is twice as efficient as a single-phase rectifier.

B. For Voltage Clamping. Figure shows a voltage
clamper. The negative pulse of the input voltage
charges the capacitor to its max. value in the
direction shown. After charging, the capacitor
cannot discharge because it is open circuited by the
diode. Hence the output voltage,
C. As Voltage Multiplier By connecting diodes in a
predetermined manner, an ac signal can be doubled, tripled, and
even quadrupled. This is shown in Fig. The circuit will yield a dc
voltage equal to 2Vm. The capacitors are alternately charged to
the maximum value of the input voltage.
 .

In operation capacitor C1 charges through diode D1 to a peak voltage, Vm, during

the positive half-cycle of the transformer secondary voltage.

Capacitor C2 charges to twice the peak voltage 2Vm developed by the sum of the
voltages across capacitor C1 and the transformer, during the negative half-cycle of the
transformer secondary voltage.

During the positive half-cycle, diode D3 conducts and the voltage across capacitor
C2 charges capacitor C3 to the same 2Vm peak voltage.

On the negative half cycle, diodes D2 and D4 conduct with capacitor C3, charging C4 to
2Vm. The voltage across capacitor C2 is 2Vm, across C1 and C3 it is 3Vm, and across C2
and C4 it is 4Vm.
 Power transistors
Most of the power electronics applications use npn transistor because electrons move
faster than holes, and therefore, npn transistors have considerable faster commutation
times.
,
 Dynamic Switching Characteristics
 Switching characteristics are important to define the device
velocity in changing from conduction (on) to blocking (off) states.

 Such transition velocity is of paramount importance also because

most of the losses are due to high-frequency switching. Figure
below shows typical waveforms for a resistive load.
 
 Index “r” refers to the rising time (from 10 to 90% of maximum
value), for example is the current rise time which depends upon
the base current.
 The falling time is indexed by “f”; the parameter is the current
falling time, i.e. when the transistor is blocking such time
corresponds to crossing from the saturation to the cut off state.
The delay time is denoted by td , corresponding to the time to
discharge the capacitance of base–emitter junction, which can be
reduced with a larger current base with high slope.

Storage time (ts ) is a very important parameter for BJT transistor, it

is the required time to neutralize the carriers stored in the
collector and base. Storage time and switching losses are
key points to deal extensively with bipolar power transistors
 Switching losses occur at both turn-on and turn-off and
for high frequency operation the rising and falling times
for voltage and current transitions play important role
as indicated by
 MOSFET
• What is mosfet? Who can draw the ckt?
• How can you differentiate with BJT?
• Where it will be applied?
 POWER MOSFET
Insulated Gate Field Effect Transistor ( IGFET) is :
 A Transistor whose Gate input is electrically insulated from the main current
carrying channel
 most common IGFET is Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
(MOSFET)

 MOSFETs are three terminal devices with a Gate, Drain and Source and both P-
channel (PMOS) and N-channel (NMOS) MOSFETs are available. MOSFETs are
available in two basic forms:

 Depletion Type   –   the transistor requires the Gate-Source voltage, ( VGS ) to
switch the device “OFF”. The depletion mode MOSFET is equivalent to a
“Normally Closed” switch.

 Enhancement Type   –   the transistor requires a Gate-Source

voltage, ( VGS ) to switch the device “ON”. The enhancement mode
MOSFET is equivalent to a “Normally Open” switch.
 Depletion-mode MOSFET
 The Depletion-mode MOSFET, is normally switched “ON”
(conducting) without the application of a gate bias voltage. That is
the channel conducts when VGS = 0 making it a “normally-closed”
device.
 For the n-channel depletion MOS transistor, a negative gate-source
voltage, -VGS will deplete the conductive channel of its free
electrons switching the transistor “OFF”.
 Likewise for a p-channel depletion MOS transistor a positive gate-
source voltage, +VGS will deplete the channel of its free holes
turning it “OFF”.
 In other words, for an n-channel depletion mode MOSFET: +VGS
means more electrons and more current. While a -VGS means less
electrons and less current.
 The opposite is also true for the p-channel types. Then the depletion
mode MOSFET is equivalent to a “normally-closed” switch.
n-Channel Depletion-Type MOSFET
 VGS has been set at a negative voltage such as -1 V. The negative potential at the
gate will tend to pressure electrons toward the p-type substrate (like charges
repel) and attract holes from the p-type substrate (opposite charges attract)

 Depending on the magnitude of the negative bias established by VGS, a level of

recombination between electrons and holes will occur that will reduce the
number of free electrons in the n-channel available for conduction.

 The more negative the bias, the higher the rate of recombination. The resulting
level of drain current is therefore reduced with increasing negative bias for VGS

 For positive values of VGS, the positive gate will attract additional
electrons (free carriers) from the p-type substrate due to the
reverse leakage current and establish new carriers through the
collisions resulting between accelerating particles.

 As the gate-to-source voltage continues to increase in the positive

direction.
p-Channel Depletion-Type MOSFET
 Enhancement-mode MOSFET
 The more common Enhancement-mode MOSFET or eMOSFET, is
the reverse of the depletion-mode type. Here the conducting
channel is lightly doped or even undoped making it non-
conductive. This results in the device being normally “OFF” (non-
conducting) when the gate bias voltage, VGS is equal to zero.

 For the n-channel enhancement MOS transistor a drain

current will only flow when a gate voltage ( VGS ) is
applied to the gate terminal greater than the threshold
voltage ( VTH ) level in which conductance takes place
making it a trans conductance device.
 The application of a positive (+ve) gate voltage to a n-type
eMOSFET attracts more electrons towards the oxide layer around
the gate thereby increasing or enhancing.
 ENHANCEMENT-TYPE MOSFET
• The source and drain terminals are again connected through metallic contacts
to n-doped regions, but note in the absence of a channel between the two n-
doped regions.
• This is the primary difference between the construction of
depletion-type and enhancement-type MOSFETs
 Basic Operation and Characteristics
If VGS is set at 0 V and a voltage applied between the drain and source of the device the
absence of an n-channel (with its generous number of free carriers) will result in a current of
effectively zero amperes—quite different from the depletion- type MOSFET and JFET where
ID = IDSS.

There are in fact two reverse-biased p-n junctions between the n-doped regions and the p-
substrate to oppose any significant flow between drain and source.
Increasing this positive gate voltage will cause the
channel resistance to decrease further causing an
increase in the drain current, ID through the channel.
In other words, for an n-channel enhancement mode
MOSFET: +VGS turns the transistor “ON”, while a zero or
-VGS turns the transistor “OFF”. Then, the
enhancement-mode MOSFET is equivalent to a
“normally-open” switch.
The reverse is true for the p-channel enhancement
MOS transistor. When VGS = 0 the device is “OFF” and
the channel is open.
 The application of a negative (-ve) gate voltage to the
p-type eMOSFET enhances the channels conductivity
turning it “ON”.
Then for an p-channel enhancement mode MOSFET:
• Enhancement-mode MOSFETs make excellent
electronics switches due to their low “ON”
resistance and extremely high “OFF” resistance as
well as their infinitely high input resistance due to
their isolated gate.
• Enhancement-mode MOSFETs are used in
integrated circuits to produce CMOS type
Logic Gates and power switching circuits in the
form of as PMOS (P-channel) and NMOS (N-
channel) gates.
• CMOS actually stands for Complementary MOS
meaning that the logic device has both PMOS and
NMOS within its design
p-Channel Enhancement-Type MOSFETs
 Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor(IGBT)

• Why we need IGBT?

• Unique feature?\application of IGBT?
• IGBT ckt construction?
 Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor(IGBT)
 Power MOSFETS are characterized with :
• high switching speed.
• higher on state resistance per unit area
• higher on state loss.
This is particularly true for higher voltage devices (greater than about 500 volts)
 With the discovery that power MOSFETs were not in a strong
position to displace the BJT, many researches began to look at
the possibility of combining these technologies to achieve a
hybrid device which has a high input impedance and a low
on state resistance.
 Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) have near ideal
characteristics for high voltage (> 100V) medium frequency (< 20
kHZ) applications.
 This device along with the MOSFET (at low voltage high
frequency applications) have the potential to replace the BJT
completely
 IGBTs are mainly used in power electronics applications, such as
inverters, converters and power supplies, were the demands of
the solid state switching device are not fully met by power
bipolars and power MOSFETs.

 High-current and high-voltage bipolar are available, but their

switching speeds are slow, while power MOSFETs may have
higher switching speeds, but high-voltage and high-current
devices are expensive and hard to achieve.
 The advantage gained by the insulated gate bipolar transistor
device over a BJT or MOSFET is that:
 it offers greater power gain than the standard bipolar type
transistor combined with the higher voltage operation and lower
input losses of the MOSFET.

 In effect it is an FET integrated with a bipolar transistor

in a form of Darlington type configuration as shown.
Terminals are : Collector, Emitter and Gate. Two of its
terminals (C-E) are associated with the conductance path
which passes current, while its third terminal (G) controls the
device.
 The amount of amplification achieved by the insulated gate
bipolar transistor is a ratio between its output signal and its input
signal.

 For a conventional bipolar junction transistor, (BJT) the amount

of gain is approximately equal to the ratio of the output current
to the input current, called Beta.

 For a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor or MOSFET,

there is no input current as the gate is isolated from the main
current carrying channel.
 Therefore, an FET’s gain is equal to the ratio of output current
change to input voltage change, making it a transc onductance
device and this is also true of the IGBT.

 Then we can treat the IGBT as a power BJT whose base current is
provided by a MOSFET.
 The Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor can be used in small signal
amplifier circuits in much the same way as the BJT or MOSFET type
transistors.

 But as the IGBT combines the low conduction loss of a BJT with the
high switching speed of a power MOSFET an optimal solid state
switch exists which is ideal for use in power electronics
applications.

 Also, the IGBT has a much lower “on-state” resistance, RON than an
equivalent MOSFET. This means that the I2R drop across the bipolar
output structure for a given switching current is much lower.

 The forward blocking operation of the IGBT transistor is identical to

a power MOSFET.
An insulated gate bipolar transistor is simply turned
“ON” or “OFF” by activating and deactivating its
Gate terminal.
Applying a positive input voltage signal across the
Gate and the Emitter will keep the device in its
“ON” state, while making the input gate signal
zero or slightly negative will cause it to turn “OFF”
in much the same way as a bipolar transistor or
eMOSFET.

 Another advantage of the IGBT is that it has a

much lower on-state channel resistance than a
standard MOSFET.
 IGBT Characteristics

 Because the IGBT is a voltage-controlled device, it only requires a

small voltage on the Gate to maintain conduction through the
device unlike BJT’s
 Also the IGBT is a unidirectional device, meaning it can only switch
current in the “forward direction”, that is from Collector to Emitter
unlike MOSFET’s which have bi-directional current switching
capabilities (controlled in the forward direction and uncontrolled
in the reverse direction).
 The principal of operation and Gate drive circuits for the
insulated gate bipolar transistor are very similar to that of
the N-channel power MOSFET.

 The basic difference is that the resistance offered by the

main conducting channel when current flows through the
device in its “ON” state is very much smaller in the IGBT.
Because of this, the current ratings are much higher when
compared with an equivalent power MOSFET.

It a good choice for moderate speed, high voltage

applications such as in pulse-width modulated (PWM),
variable speed control, switch-mode power supplies or
solar powered DC-AC inverter and frequency converter
applications operating in the hundreds of kilohertz range.
 IGBT Comparison Table
Device Power Power
IGBT
Characteristic Bipolar MOSFET

Voltage Rating High <1kV High <1kV Very High >1kV

Current Rating High <500A Low <200A High >500A

Current, hFE Voltage, VGS Voltage, VGE
Input Drive
20-200 3-10V 4-8V

Input Impedance Low High High

Output Impedance Low Medium Low

Switching Speed Slow (uS) Fast (nS) Medium

Cost Low Medium High
Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR)

Circuit Symbol Simplified Sectional model of a

of SCR thyristor (SCR)

55
 Terminal Characteristics of SCR
 Four alternate layers of p & n-type (P-N-P-N)
 Three junctions (J1,J2,J3)
 Three terminals (Anode-A, Cathode-K and Gate-G)
 An SCR is so called because silicon is used for its
operation and its operation as a rectifier (very low
resistance in the forward conduction and very high
resistance in the reverse direction) can be controlled.
 Like the diode, an SCR is a unidirectional device that
blocks the current flow from cathode to anode.
 Unlike the diode, a thyristor also blocks the current flow
from anode to cathode until it is triggered into
conduction by a proper gate signal between gate &
56
cathode terminals.
 Cont…
• When the anode is made positive with respect the cathode
junctions J1 & J3 are forward biased and junction J2 is
reverse biased.
• With anode to cathode voltage being small, only leakage
current flows through the device. The SCR is then said to
be in the forward blocking state.
• If supply voltage VS is further increased to a large value,
the reverse biased junction J2 will breakdown due to
avalanche effect resulting in a large current through the
device.
• The voltage at which this phenomenon occurs is called the
forward breakdown voltage VBO. Since the other junctions
J1 & J3 are already forward biased, there will be free
movement of carriers across all three junctions resulting in
a large forward anode current.
57
 Working principles of SCR
I. When gate is open.
 Fig. shows the SCR circuit with gate open i.e. no voltage applied to
the gate. Under this condition, junction J2 is reverse biased while
junctions J1 and J3 are forward biased.
 Hence, the situation in the junctions J1 and J3 is just as in a npn
transistor with base open. Consequently, no current flows through
the load RL and the SCR is cut off.
 However, if the applied voltage is gradually increased, a stage is
reached when reverse biased junction J2 breaks down. The SCR
now conducts heavily and is said to be in the ON state. The applied
voltage at which SCR conducts heavily without gate voltage is
called Breakover voltage.
 
(ii) When gate is positive w.r.t. cathode.
 The SCR can be made to conduct heavily at smaller applied voltage by applying a small
positive potential to the gate as shown in Fig below

 Now junction J3 is forward biased and junction J2 is reverse biased. The electrons from n-
type material start moving across junction J3 towards left whereas holes from p-type
towards the right.
 Consequently, the electrons from junction J3 are attracted across junction J2 and gate
current starts flowing. As soon as the gate current flows, anode current increases.

 The increased anode current in turn makes more electrons available at junction J2. This
process continues and in an extremely small time, junction J2 breaks down and the SCR
starts conducting heavily.
 Once SCR starts conducting, the gate loses all control. Even if gate voltage is removed, the
anode current does not decrease at all. The only way to stop conduction (i.e. bring SCR in
off condition) is to reduce the applied voltage to zero
The following conclusions are drawn from the working of SCR :

 An SCR has two states i.e. either it does not conduct or it conducts
heavily. There is no state in between. Therefore, SCR behaves like a
switch.
 There are two ways to turn on the SCR. The first method is to keep
the gate open and make the supply voltage equal to the break over
voltage. The second method is to operate SCR with supply voltage
less than break over voltage and then turn it on by means of a
small voltage ( typically 1.5 V, 30 mA) applied to the gate.

 Applying small positive voltage to the gate is the normal way to

close an SCR because the break over voltage is usually much
greater than supply voltage.
 To open the SCR (i.e. to make it non-conducting ), reduce the supply
voltage to zero
 Holding & Latching Currents
HOLDING CURRENT,IH
• After an SCR has been switched to the on state a certain
minimum value of anode current is required to maintain the
thyristor in this low impedance state.
• If the anode current is reduced below the critical holding current
value, the thyristor cannot maintain the current through it and
reverts to its off state usually holding current is associated with
turn off of the device.
LATCHING CURRENT,IL
 After the SCR has switched on, there is a minimum current
required to sustain conduction as soon as gate current is
removed.
 This current is called the latching current and is associated with
turn on and is usually greater than holding current.
Usually, IL = (1.5 up to 2) * IH
61
 Static V-I Characteristics of a thyristor
RL

VAA K
VGG

Fig. Circuit

Fig: V-I Characteristics 62

Cont…
• In the reverse direction, the thyristor appears similar
to a reverse biased diode which conducts very little
current until avalanche breakdown occurs.
• If supply voltage VS is further increased to a large
value, the reverse biased junction J1 and J3 will
breakdown due to avalanche effect resulting in a
large voltage through the device.
• The voltage at which this phenomenon occurs is
called the reverse breakdown voltage VBR. Since the
other junctions J2 already forward biased, there will
be free movement of carriers across all three
junctions resulting in a large reverse anode current
that may damage the device permanently.
63
Cont…
• However once the thyristor is in the on state the gate cannot be used
to turn the device off. The only way to turn off the thyristor is by the
external circuit to force the current through the device to be less than
the holding current for a minimum specified time period.

Fig.: Effects on gate current on forward blocking voltage 64

 TWO TRANSISTOR MODEL OF A THYRISTOR

Used to analyze the regenerative feedback or positive feedback SCR,

due to this the SCR anode current should limit by external circuits.
65
 SWITCHING CHARACTERISTICS
(DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS)
THYRISTOR TURN-ON CHARACTERISTICS

Td = delay time; Tr =rise time; and Tp= spread time

Ton =Td + Tr + Tp; Ton is on time of SCR 66
• When the SCR is turned on with the application of the gate signal, the SCR does
not conduct fully at the instant of application of the gate trigger pulse.
• In the beginning, there is no appreciable increase in the SCR anode current,
which is because, only a small portion of the silicon pellet in the immediate
vicinity of the gate electrode starts conducting.
• The duration between 90% of the peak gate trigger pulse and the instant the
forward voltage has fallen to 90% of its initial value is called the gate
controlled / trigger delay time td
• It is also defined as the duration between 90% of the gate trigger pulse and
the instant at which the anode current rises to 10% of its peak value. t d is
usually in the range of 1sec.
• Once td has lapsed, the current starts rising towards the peak value.
• The period during which the anode current rises from 10% to 90% of its peak
value is called the rise time tr.
• The period during which the anode current spreads from 90% to 100% of its
value is called the spread time tp.
• The summation of td , tr and tp gives the turn on time ton of the Thyristors.

67
 THYRISTOR TURN OFF CHARACTERISTICS
V A K
tC
tq

IA
di
C o m m u t a t io n
A n o d e c u rre n t dt
b e g in s t o
d e cre a se R ecovery R e c o m b in a tio n

t1 t2 t3 t4 t5

tq= d e v ic e o ff t im e
trr tgr
tc= c ir c u it o f f t im e
tq
tc
68
• The device can be brought back to the blocking state only
by reducing the forward current to a level below that of
the holding current.
• As in the case of diodes, the SCR has a reverse recovery
time trr which is due to charge storage in the junctions of
the SCR.
• These excess carriers take some time for recombination
resulting in the gate recovery time or reverse
recombination time tgr
• Thus, the turn-off time tq is the sum of the durations for
which reverse recovery current flows after the application
of reverse voltage and the time required for the
recombination of all excess carriers present.
69
• At the end of the turn off time, a depletion layer
develops across J2 and the junction can now withstand
the forward voltage.
• The turn off time is dependent on the anode current,
the magnitude of reverse Vg applied and the magnitude
and rate of application of the forward voltage.
• The turn off time for converter grade SCR’s is 50sec to 100sec
and that for inverter grade SCR’s is 10 sec to 20sec.

• To ensure that SCR has successfully turned off , it is

required that the circuit off time tc be greater than SCR
70
Discuss the operations of each diagram?
 DIAC
The Diode AC switch, or Diac for short, is another solid state, four
layer, two-junction semiconductor device but unlike the transistor the
Diac has no base connection making it a two terminal device, labelled
A1 and A2.

Diac’s have no control or amplification but act much like a

bidirectional switching diode as they can conduct current from either
polarity of a suitable AC voltage supply
Diacs are primarily used as trigger devices in phase-triggering and variable power
control applications because a diac helps provide a sharper and more instant
trigger pulse (as opposed to a steadily rising ramp voltage) which is used to turn
“ON” the main switching device. The diac symbol and the voltage-current
characteristics curves of the diac are given below
Diac Symbol and I-V Characteristics
 We can see from the above diac I-V characteristics
curves that the diac blocks the flow of current in both
directions until the applied voltage is greater than VBR,
at which point breakdown of the device occurs and the
diac conducts heavily in a similar way to the zener
diode passing a sudden pulse of voltage. This VBR point
is called the Diacs breakdown voltage or breakover
voltage.
 In an ordinary zener diode the voltage across it would
remain constant as the current increased. However, in
the diac the transistor action causes the voltage to
reduce as the current increases. Once in the
conducting state, the resistance of the diac falls to a
very low value allowing a relatively large value of
current to flow.
 As the diac is a symmetrical device, it therefore has the
same characteristic for both positive and negative voltages
and it is this negative resistance action that makes the
Diac suitable as a triggering device for SCR’s or triacs.
Diac Applications
 As stated above, the diac is commonly used as a solid
state triggering device for other semiconductor
switching devices, mainly SCR’s and triacs.

 Triacs are widely used in applications such as lamp

dimmers and motor speed controllers and as such the
diac is used in conjunction with the triac to provide full-
wave control of the AC supply as shown.
 Diac AC Phase Control

 As the AC supply voltage increases at the beginning of the cycle,

capacitor, C is charged through the series combination of the
fixed resistor, R1 and the potentiometer, VR1 and the voltage
across its plates increases.
 When the charging voltage reaches the breakover voltage of the
diac (about 30 V for the ST2), the diac breaks down and the
capacitor discharges through the diac, producing a sudden pulse
of current, which fires the triac into conduction. The phase angle
at which the triac is triggered can be varied using VR1, which
controls the charging rate of the capacitor.
Once the triac has been fired into conduction, it is
maintained in its “ON” state by the load current
flowing through it, while the voltage across the
resistor–capacitor combination is limited by the “ON”
voltage of the triac and is maintained until the end of
the present half-cycle of the AC supply.

At the end of the half cycle the supply voltage falls to
zero, reducing the current through the triac below its
holding current, IH turning it “OFF” and the diac stops
conduction. The supply voltage then enters its next
half-cycle, the capacitor voltage again begins to rise
(this time in the opposite direction) and the cycle of
firing the triac repeats over again.
 Triac Conduction Waveform

Then we have seen that the Diac is a very useful device which can
be used to trigger triacs and because of its negative resistance
characteristics this allows it to switch “ON” rapidly once a certain
applied voltage level is reached.
 Triac
 In order to obtain full-wave power control we could connect a
single thyristor inside a full-wave bridge rectifier which triggers
on each positive half-wave, or to connect two thyristors
together in inverse parallel (back-to-back) as shown below but
this increases both the complexity and number of components
used in the switching circuit
 In other words, a Triac can be triggered into conduction
by both positive and negative voltages applied to its
Anode and with both positive and negative trigger pulses
applied to its Gate terminal making it a two-quadrant
switching Gate controlled device.

 A Triac behaves just like two conventional thyristors

connected together in inverse parallel (back-to-back) with
respect to each other and because of this arrangement
the two thyristors share a common Gate terminal all
within a single three-terminal package.
 Since a triac conducts in both directions of a sinusoidal
waveform, the concept of an Anode terminal and a
Cathode terminal used to identify the main power
terminals of a thyristor are replaced with identifications
of: MT1, for Main Terminal 1 and MT2 for Main Terminal 2
with the Gate terminal G referenced the same.

 In most AC switching applications, the triac gate terminal

is associated with the MT1 terminal, similar to the gate-
cathode relationship of the thyristor or the base-emitter
relationship of the transistor. The construction, P-N
doping and schematic symbol used to represent a Triac is
given below.
 Triac Symbol and Construction

We now know that a “triac” is a 4-layer, PNPN in the positive direction and a NPNP in
the negative direction, three-terminal bidirectional device that blocks current in its
“OFF” state acting like an open-circuit switch, but unlike a conventional thyristor, the
triac can conduct current in either direction when triggered by a single gate pulse.
Then a triac has four possible triggering modes of operation as follows.
I+  Mode = MT2 current positive (+ve), Gate current positive (+ve)
I –  Mode = MT2 current positive (+ve), Gate current negative (-ve)
III +  Mode = MT2 current negative (-ve), Gate current positive (+ve)
III –  Mode = MT2 current negative (-ve), Gate current negative (-ve)
And these four modes in which a triac can be operated are shown using
the triacs I-V characteristics curves.
Triac I-V Characteristics Curves
In Quadrant Ι, the triac is usually triggered into
conduction by a positive gate current, labelled above as
mode Ι+. But it can also be triggered by a negative gate
current, mode Ι–. Similarly, in Quadrant ΙΙΙ, triggering
with a negative gate current, –ΙG is also common, mode
ΙΙΙ– along with mode ΙΙΙ+.

Modes Ι– and ΙΙΙ+ are, however, less sensitive

configurations requiring a greater gate current to cause
triggering than the more common triac triggering
modes of Ι+ and ΙΙΙ–.

Also, just like silicon controlled rectifiers (SCR’s), triac’s

also require a minimum holding current IH to maintain
 Triac Applications
 The Triac is most commonly used semiconductor
device for switching and power control of AC systems
Triac Switching Circuit

 With switch SW1 open, no current flows into the Gate of the triac and the
lamp is therefore “OFF”. When SW1 is closed, Gate current is applied to the
triac from the battery supply VG via resistor R and the triac is driven into full
conduction
 As the battery supplies a positive Gate current to the triac whenever switch SW1 is
closed, the triac is therefore continually gated in modes Ι+ and ΙΙΙ+ regardless of the
polarity of terminal MT2.
 we can also trigger the triac using the actual AC supply voltage
itself as the gate triggering voltage. Consider the circuit below.

When switch SW1 is open, the triac acts as an open

switch and the lamp passes zero current. When SW1 is
closed the triac is gated “ON” via current limiting
resistor R and self-latches shortly after the start of each
half-cycle, thus switching full power to the lamp load.
As the supply is sinusoidal AC, the triac automatically
unlatches at the end of each AC half-cycle and thus the
load current briefly falls to zero but re-latches again using
the opposite thyristor half on the next half cycle as long
as the switch remains closed.

This type of switching control is generally called full-wave

control due to the fact that both halves of the sine wave
are being controlled.

As the triac is effectively two back-to-back connected

SCR’s, we can take this triac switching circuit further by
modifying how the gate is triggered as shown below
 Triac Phase Control

This basic phase triggering circuit uses the triac in series with the motor across
an AC sinusoidal supply. The variable resistor, VR1 is used to control the
amount of phase shift on the gate of the triac which in turn controls the
amount of voltage applied to the motor by turning it ON at different times
during the AC cycle.
The triac’s triggering voltage is derived from the VR1 – C1 combination via the
Diac (The diac is a bidirectional semiconductor device that helps provide a sharp
trigger current pulse to fully turn-ON the triac).
 At the start of each cycle, C1 charges up via the
variable resistor, VR1. This continues until the
voltage across C1 is sufficient to trigger the
diac into conduction which in turn allows
capacitor, C1 to discharge into the gate of the
triac turning it “ON”.

 Once the triac is triggered into conduction and

saturates, it effectively shorts out the gate
triggering phase control circuit connected in
parallel across it and the triac takes control for
the remainder of the half-cycle.
 As we have seen above, the triac turns-OFF
automatically at the end of the half-cycle and
the VR1 – C1 triggering process starts again on
the next half cycle.

 However, because the triac requires differing

amounts of gate current in each switching mode
of operation, for example Ι+ and ΙΙΙ–, a triac is
therefore asymmetrical meaning that it may not
trigger at the exact same point for each positive
and negative half cycle.
Thyristors Triggering Circuits
And Methods
 THYRISTOR TURN ON METHODS
• Thermal Turn on: If the temperature of the thyristor is high, there will be an
increase in charge carriers which would increase the leakage current. This
would cause an increase in anode current and the thyristor may turn on. This
type of turn on may cause thermal run away and is usually avoided.

 Light: If light be allowed to fall on the junctions of a thyristor, charge carrier

concentration would increase which may turn on the SCR.
 LASCR: Light activated SCRs are turned on by allowing light to strike the silicon
wafer.
 High Voltage Triggering: This is triggering without application of gate voltage
with only application of a large voltage across the anode-cathode such that it is
greater than the forward breakdown voltage VBO.
This type of turn on is destructive and should be avoided.
 Gate Triggering: Gate triggering is the method practically employed to turn-on
the thyristor.

92
 dv
High dt Triggering:
• Under transient conditions, the capacitances of the p-n
junction will influence the characteristics of a thyristor.
• If the thyristor is in the blocking state, a rapidly rising voltage
applied across the device would cause a high current to flow
through the device resulting in turn-on.
• If ij2 is the current through the junction J2 and Cj2 is the
junction capacitance, and Vj2 is the voltage across J2 , then a
high value of charging current may damage the thyristor and
the device must be protected against high
 
dq2 d C j2 dVJ 2 dC j2
ij 2   C j Vj  V j2
dt dt 2 2
dt dt
dv
From the above equation, we see that if is large, ij2 will be large
dt
93
 GATE TRIGGERING CIRCUITS
 Gate triggering circuit consists of two main circuits
1. A pulse generator circuit it may be a 555 timer IC , 556 IC, micro-processor,
micro-controller, UJT circuit, PLC or any other circuit that can able to produce
a pulse signal.

2. The output of the pulse generator circuit is supplied to the amplifier circuit and
it should be isolated from the main power circuit for protection of the
controlling circuit. The amplifier circuit may be BJT amplifier, OPAMP,
Darlington pair and so on. While the isolator circuit may be a pulse
transformer or an opto-coupler circuits.
The different methods of gate triggering are the following

 R-triggering.

RC triggering.

UJT triggering
94
 1. RESISTANCE TRIGGERING
v O
a b
L O A D

i R 1

R 2

v S = V m s in  t
D V T

R V g

95
• The resistor R1 limits the current through the gate of the SCR.

• R2 is the variable resistance added to the circuit to achieve

control over the triggering angle of SCR.

• Resistor ‘R’ is a stabilizing resistor for gate voltage drop.

• The diode D is required to ensure that no negative voltage

reaches the gate of the SCR.

96
V S VS VS
V m s in  t

3 4 3 4 3 4
 2 t  2 t  2 t

Vg Vgt Vg Vg Vgp>Vgt
Vgp= Vgt

Vgp Vgp Vgt t t t

Vo Vo Vo

t t t
io io io

t 0 t t
270
VT VT VT

3 4
t  2 t t
 0 0
0 = 90 < 90
90

(a ) (b ) (c)

(a) No triggering of SCR (b)  = 90o (c)  < 90o

Fig.: Resistance firing of an SCR in half wave circuit with dc load 97

 OPERATION

• Case 1:
Vgp , the peak gate voltage is less then Vgt since R2 is very large.
Therefore, current ‘I’ flowing through the gate is very small.
SCR will not turn on and therefore the load voltage is zero and vscr
is equal to Vs. This is because we are using only a resistive network.
Therefore, output will be in phase with input.

• Case 2: Vgp  Vgt , optimum value.

When R2 is set to an optimum value such that Vgp  Vgt , we see that the SCR
is triggered at 900 (since Vgp reaches its peak at 900 only). The waveforms
show that the load voltage is zero till 900 and the voltage across the SCR is
the same as input voltage till it is triggered at 900.

98
• Case 3:V gp
,
 Vgt R2 small value.
The triggering value V is reached much earlier than 0. Hence the SCR
gt 90
turns on earlier than reaches its peak value. The waveforms as shown
with respect to V S .
Vs  Vm sin  t
At
 Vgt 
 t   , VS  Vgt ,Vm  Vgp  Vgt  Vgp sin   Therefore   sin 1
 
 Vgp 

Vm R
ButVgp 
R1  R2  R
Vgt  R1  R2  R  
Therefore   sin 
1

 V m R 

Since Vgt , R1 , R are constants

 R2 The firing angle is proportional to the value of R2 The firing

angle is proportional to the value of R2
99
2. RESISTANCE CAPACITANCE TRIGGERING

vO

LOAD
+
R
D 2 VT

-
v S = V m s in  t
D 1
V C C

100
• Capacitor ‘C’ in the circuit is connected to shift the phase of the gate
voltage.
• D1 is used to prevent negative voltage from reaching the gate cathode of
SCR.
• In the negative half
Vm  cycle, the capacitor charges to the peak negative voltage

of the supply through the diode D2 .

• The capacitor maintains this voltage across it, till the supply voltage crosses
zero.
• As the supply becomespositive,
Vm the capacitor charges through resistor ‘R’
from initial voltage of , to a positive value.
• When the capacitor voltage is equal to the gate trigger voltage of the SCR,
the SCR is fired and the capacitor voltage is clamped to a small positive
101
value .
 WAVE FORMS
V m s in  t V m s in  t
vs vs
V gt V gt

-/2 0 -/2 0
0 t 0 t
vc vc
vc vc
a a a a
vo   vo
Vm Vm
0
    t  t
vT vT

Vm
  0 
-V m t   t
 -V m
(2 +  )

(a ) (b )
(a) High value of R (b) Low value of R
Fig.: Waveforms for RC half-wave trigger circuit 102
 OPERATION

• Case 1: R  Large.
When the resistor ‘R’ is large, the time taken for the capacitance to charge
from Vm to Vgt is large, resulting in larger firing angle and lower load
voltage.

• Case 2: R  Small.
 When ‘R’ is set to a smaller value, the capacitor charges at a faster
rate towards Vgt resulting in early triggering of SCR and hence VL is
more.
 When the SCR triggers, the voltage drop across it falls to 1 to
1.5V. This in turn lowers, the voltage across R & C.
 Low voltage across the SCR during conduction period keeps the
capacitor discharge during the positive half cycle.

103
 DESIGN EQUATIONS

From the circuit VC  Vgt  Vd 1 .

Considering the source voltage and the gate circuit, we can write
vs  I gt R  VC
SCR fires when vs  I gt R  VC
that is vS  I g R  Vgt  Vd 1
.
vs  Vgt  Vd 1
Therefore . R
I gt
The RC time constant for zero output voltage ,that is maximum firing angle
for power frequencies is empirically given as
T 
RC  1.3  
2

104
 End of chapter one

Question?

Home work

 GTO operation,constraction, UJT triggering