“MOS Controlled Thyristor”

MAGMANLAC, HAICHELLE MAY

RIVAREZ, JUSTINE ALBERT

MATIENZO, LESLIE ANNE

SORIANO, MICO JASPER

MANDIA, MARK JOVIN

LIWANAG, MAYNARD

CHAVEZ, JHANRIC

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INTRODUCTION

The MOS controlled thyristor is a type of power semiconductor device. It has the
capabilities of current and thyristor voltage through the MOS gated used for the turn ON
and OFF purpose. It is used in high power applications like high power, huge frequency,
low conduction and it is used in further process. The device is basically a thyristor with
two MOSFET’s built into the gate structure. Several advantages of MCT have a low
forward conduction drop, it has low switching losses, high gate input impedance and it
can turn ON/ OFF very fast. MCT has a low voltage drop in the on state and a low turn
off time.
An MCT is an improvement over a thyristor with a pair of MOSFETs to turn-on
and turn-off current. The MCT overcomes several of the limitations of the existing power
devices and promises to be a better switch for the future. While there are several
devices in the MCT family with distinct combinations of channel and gate structures,
one type, called the P-channel MCT, because the gate of the device is referred to with
respect to the anode rather than the cathode, it is sometimes referred to as a
complementary MCT (CMCT). Harris Semiconductors (Intersil) originally made the
MCTs, but the MCT division was sold to Silicon Power Corporation (SPCO), which has
continued the development of MCTs.
An MCT is an improvement over a thyristor with a pair of MOSFETS to turn on
and turn off current. The operation of the devices is compared under on-state, off-state,
and transient conditions. An MCT can be compared to a power BJT, power MOSFET
and an IGBT of similar voltage and current.
Out of many semiconductor controlled devices, MCT is considered to be the latest.
The device is basically a thyristor with two MOSFET’s built into the gate structure.
A MOSFET is used for turning ON the MCT and another one is used for turning it OFF.
The device is mostly used for switching applications and has other characteristics like
high frequency, high power, and low conduction drop and so on. An MCT combines the
feature of both conventional four layer thyristor having regenerative action and MOS- gate
structure. In this device, all the gate signals are applied with respect to anode, which is
kept as the reference. In a normally used SCR, cathode is kept as the reference terminal
for gate signals.

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CONSTRUCTION

The figure shown below is the basic structure of MOS controlled thyristor.

In practice, a MCT will include thousands of these basic cells connected in parallel,
just like a PMOSFET. This helps in obtaining a high current carrying capacity for the
device.

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 An MCT combines the feature of both conventional four layer thyristor having
regenerative action and MOS- gate structure. In this device, all the gate signals are
applied with respect to anode, which is kept as the reference. In a normally used SCR,
cathode is kept as the reference terminal for gate signals.
The two MOSFETS are the N MCT and P MCT. N MCT or N MOSFET is used to
turn off which is essentially diverts the base current of one of the BJT’s and breaks the
regeneration. The p-channel is used for the switch on the ON FET and n-channel is
used for the switch off the OFF FET. N-type MCTs will be expected to have a similar
forward voltage drop, but with an improved reverse bias safe operating area and
switching speed. The mosfet used is a enhancement type.
Due to NPNP structure instead of PNPN, anode acts as a reference for gate.

OPERATION

It is a combination of current and voltage capabilities with the help of MOS gated. The
MOS gated is used for the switch ON/OFF of MCT.

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 It consists of an ON-FET, an OFF-FET and two transistors. The MOS structure of
the MCT is represented in the equivalent circuit. It consists of one ON-FET, a p-channel
MOSFET, and an OFF-FET. Both n-p-n and p-n-p transistors are joined together to
represent the n-p-n-p structure of MCT. An n-channel MOSFET is represented by drawing
the arrow towards the gate terminal. A p-channel MOSFET is indicated by drawing the
arrow away from the gate terminal. The two transistors in the equivalent circuit indicate
that there is regenerative feedback in the MCT just as it is an ordinary thyristor. The circuit
symbol of MCT is shown below.

SWITCHING CHARACTERISTICS

Turn On

In turning on MCT, check if the MCT is in forward bias. If the anode is more
positive than cathode then it is in forward bias. When a negative voltage pulse is applied
to the gate, the MCT will turn on. How?
N Channel is OFF FET and P Channel is ON FET. If the negative pulse is
applied, the npn layer will be triggered and the current will pass through to p positive.

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Then the heavily doped p positive will push the current to the slightly doped p. N type is
reverse bias , that will produce p type in n type and creates a channel. The current will
pass through the n type and current flow to cathode. When the FET is in ON state the
current passes from the anode through the ON FET then passes through the base
current and n-p-n transistor of emitter terminal and finally current passes through the
cathode.

Turn Off

In turning off MCT , by applying positive voltage pulse on the gate will turn off the
MCT, but how?
When the positive pulse is applied to the gate, the pnp will be triggered. The p
channel will be produced at n positive region and current will pass through the n region.
The current is trapped in n region because it is in reverse bias and no current will flow
into cathode. Thus the anode current flows through the OFF FET. Hence the base
current of N-P-N transistor is decreased. Reverse voltage blocking capability is the
negative point of this device. Because of this the MCT will be turned off.

MCT V-I CHARACTERISTIC GRAPH

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These are two ways to have MCT operating by applying voltage pulse and by exceeding
and forward break-over voltage. By exceeding the forward break-over voltage, it will take
certain amount to turn on the MCT. While the Vbo is not yet achieved and exceeded
leakage current is produce and it will remain the blocking state. If the cathode is made
positive than the anode and either positive and negative pulse is applied the MCT breaks
down. By applying the voltage pulse at the gate, the MCT will turn on faster than
exceeding the forward break-over voltage.

MCT PARAMETERS

MCT Static Parameters

Parameter Default Function
Ron 10m On-state resistance.
Roff 100k Off-state resistance.
Von 1 On-state series voltage.

MCT Dynamic Gate Parameters

Parameter Default Function
CGA 1nF Gate capacitance.
RG 10 Internal Gate resistance.
VonGateThreshold To turn-on, the Gate-Anode voltage
-5
has to be less than -5 Volts.
VoffGateThreshold To turn-off, the Gate-Anode voltage
5
has to be larger than 5 Volts.

MCT Reverse Break Down Parameters

Parameter
ReverseBreakDownVoltage
ReverseBreakDownCurrent
RonBreakDown
Default Function
Breakdown voltage, if the voltage
25 accross the device is larger than BV,
the device turns on.
Breakdown current, if the voltage
accross the device is larger than BV,
1
the device turns on and the current is
this specified value.
1 Resistance during break down.

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ADVANTAGES OF MCT

1. Low forward conduction drop

2. Fast TURN-ON and then OFF times
3. Low switching losses
4. High gate input impedance

APPLICATION
This paper discusses applications of device. The MOS controlled thyristor or MCT
and the MOS turn-off or MTO thyristor. It also discusses their constructions and
functionalities while highlighting their benefits in applications for commercial, industrial
and also military markets. MCT applications include smart munitions, soft switching
converters, electric vehicles and circuit breaker.

SAMPLE CIRCUIT USING MCT

An MOS Controlled Thyristor Symbol is a thyristor-like trigger-into-conduction

device that can be turned on or off by a short pulse on the MOS gate. It is a high power,

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high frequency, low conduction drop switching device and shows a tremendous promise
for next generation power electronics.
Unlike other power switching devices (except power MOSFET), an MCT is
primarily parallel connection of thousands of identical microcells on the same chip. Figure
11.11 shows the equivalent circuit and symbol of the device. Unlike MOSFET, its input
capacitance is fixed owing to the absence of Miller effect. The MCT’s can easily be
connected in series-parallel combination for a higher power requirement. Table 11.3 gives
the typical parameters of a 50 A, 500 V device at Tj = 150 °C.
The MCT shows a great possibility for widespread applications which include dc
and ac motor drives, UPS systems, induction heating, dc-ac converters, active power line
conditioners, etc. Its all-round superior characteristics show that it is going to challenge
majority of the present power devices, such as SCRs, BJTs, IGBTs and SITHs.