With great power, comes…

POWER ELECTRONIC
DEVICES
 Revision: Semi-conductors
 Atoms having four electrons in their valence
shell
 Neither good conductors, nor insulators
 Most common semi- conductors:
 Carbon
 Silicon
 Germanium
 Revision: Covalent Bond
 Atoms form covalent bonds to complete their
valence shells by sharing electrons.
 The completed
valence shells
make intrinsic
(pure) silicon a
bad conductor.
 Revision: Doping
 The process of adding impurity atoms to the
intrinsic (pure) silicon or germanium to improve
the conductivity of the semiconductor.
What type of elements are used for
doping?

ANS : Trivalent = 3 valence

electrons
Penta-valent = 5 valence
electrons
 Revision: N-type Materials
 When pentavalent
impurities are added to
silicon or germanium,
the material is known
as n-type.
 This results in free
electrons that increase
conductivity.
 Revision: P-type Materials
 When trivalent
impurities are added to
silicon or germanium,
the material is known as
p-type.
 This results in the
formation of holes that
increase conductivity.
 Revision: P-N Junction
 Individually, p-type and n-type materials offer
little use.
 Their real use comes when we can control
the width of the depletion region of a p-n
junction.
 Revision: Forward Bias
 When the p-type material is at greater potential
than the n-type material.
 Causes a flow of current through the p-n junction,
provided that applied potential difference is greater
than the potential barrier of the p-n junction.
 The depletion region becomes very thin, or
practically disappears.
 Revision: Reverse Bias
 When the p-type material is at lower or equal
potential to the n-type material.
 No current flow (infinite resistance ideally).
 The width of the depletion region effectively
increases.
 Revision: Electronic Switches
 Have two states: ON and OFF
 Ideal switch: either switch current or switch
voltage is zero, making the power absorbed
by it is zero.
 Real switches absorb some power.
 Revision: Electronic Switches
 Closed state : Essentially
acts as a short circuit.
 No resistance to current
flow
 No voltage drop across
it
 Open state : Acts as an
open circuit.
 Maximum resistance to
current flow
 ALL voltage is dropped
across it
 Switches and Power Electronics
 The power electronic Semi-conductor devices are
used as electronic switches to control the
direction and flow of the current through a load.
1. Power Diode
2. Power BJT
3. Power MOSFET Power diode

4. IGBT
Power Thyristor
5. Thyristor (SCR)

MOSFETS
The power of a diode?
POWER DIODES
 Semi-conductor Diode
What is a semi-conductor
diode?

 Uncontrolled semi-conductor
device
 P-N junction
 Power Diode
 Simplest electronic switch.
 Uncontrollable.
 ON and OFF conditions are determined by
voltages and currents in the circuit.
Revision: Depletion Region
Revision: V-I Characteristics
 Revision: V-I Characteristics
 The V-I characteristics can be expressed by an
equation known as Shockley diode equation,
which under steady state operation is given as:

𝑰𝑫 = 𝑰𝒔(𝒆𝑽𝑫/𝒏𝑽𝑻 − 𝟏)

o 𝐼𝐷 = Current through the diode

o 𝑉𝐷 = diode voltage in forward bias
o 𝐼𝑠 = leakage current
o 𝑛 = empirical constant known as emission coefficient, or identity
factor whose value varies form 1 to 2.
o 𝑉𝑇 = constant called thermal voltage
 Example 2.1
 The forward voltage drop of a power diode is 𝑽𝑫
=1.2V at 𝑰𝑫 = 300A. Assuming that 𝒏 = 2 and 𝑽𝑻
= 25.7mV. Find the reverse saturation current 𝑰𝑺.
 Example 2.1
 Using the Shockley diode
equation,
1.2(2∗25.7∗103 )
300 = 𝐼𝑆.[𝑒 − 1]

Which gives
𝑰𝑺 = 𝟐. 𝟏𝟕𝟕𝟒𝟔 x 𝟏𝟎−𝟖

Fig.: Various semiconductor diodes

 Revision: Diode Characteristics
Real diodes have much different characteristics than
the ideal behavior we considered earlier. Some of
them are:
 Forward Voltage Drop (𝑽𝑭)
 Peak Inverse Voltage (𝑽𝑹𝑹𝑴)
 Avalanche Current (𝑰𝑹𝑹𝑴)
 Average Maximum Forward Current (𝑰𝑶)
 Forward Power Dissipation (𝑷𝑫(𝑴𝑨𝑿))
 Bulk Resistance (𝑹𝑩)
 Reverse/ Leakage Current (𝑰𝑹)
 Diode Capacitance (𝑪𝑫)
Revision: Forward Voltage Drop (𝑉𝐹 )
 Diodes exhibit a finite amount of voltage drop
across it in forward bias state.
 That voltage is used to overcome the potential
barrier formed by the p-n junction.
 Taken as 0.7V for Si, and 0.3V for Ge.
Revision: Diode Analogy
 Revision: Peak Inverse Voltage (𝑉𝑅𝑅𝑀)
 At PIV(represented as 𝑽𝑹𝑹𝑴 ), the junction
covalent bonds begin to breakdown and current
flow starts to occur in reverse bias state.
 This state is dangerous, as it destroys the device
due to excessive current flow.
 The current that passes through the diode at
PIV is known as ‘avalanche current’.
 Revision: Average Forward Current (𝐼𝑂)
 The average forward current is the maximum
allowable value of forward current.
 A value of current more than that would burn
the diode by producing excessive heat.
 Revision: Forward Power Dissipation (𝑃𝐷 )

 The maximum power dissipation of the device

when it is in forward bias state.
 Power can be found as : 𝑃 = 𝑉 x 𝐼 ; where:
 P = Power dissipated by the component
 V = Voltage across the component
 I = Current through the component
 Revision: Reverse Current (𝐼𝑅)
 Ideally no current flows through the diode in the
reverse bias state.
 Practically, a small amount of current flows in
reverse bias state before the breakdown voltage,
due to minority charge carriers.
 Reverse current is made up of two independent
currents:
 Reverse saturation current (𝑰𝑺)
 Surface leakage current (𝑰𝑺𝑳)
𝐼𝑅 = 𝐼𝑆 + 𝐼𝑆𝐿
Where, ‘𝑰𝑹’ is the reverse current
 Revision: Diode Capacitance (𝐶𝐷)
 A capacitor is consists of a
dielectric insulator placed
between two conducting
plates.
 In reverse bias state, a diode
forms a depletion layer
(insulator) in between two
semi-conducting materials.
 Thus a reversed bias
capacitor forms a small
capacitor.
 Reverse Recovery
 An important dynamic characteristic of a non-ideal
diode is reverse recovery current.
 When a diode
turns off, the
current in it
decreases and
momentarily
becomes negative
before becoming
zero.
 Power Diode: Applications
 Most widely used for uncontrolled rectification
(AC -> DC conversion).
 The transfer of resistance…
POWER TRANSISTORS
 Revision: The need for Transistors

Vacuum Tubes First transistor at Bell Labs

 Before transistors, product engineers used vacuum

tubes and electromechanical switches to complete
electrical circuits.
 Revision: Bipolar Junction Transistor
 Three terminal semi-conductor devices
 Bi-polar Junction Transistors : Called so because
they conduct using both majority and minority
charge carriers.
 Revision: BJT Currents
 The three terminal currents
of the transistor are known
as:
o Collector current, 𝑰𝑪
o Base current , 𝑰𝑩
o Emitter current, 𝑰𝑬
 Normally, the emitter current
has the greatest value.
 BJTs are current controlled
devices.
𝑰𝑪 =
Revision: BJT Analogy
Revision: BJT Operating Regions
 Power Transistor
 The transistors which are used as switching
elements, are operated in the saturation
region.
 Low on-state voltage drop.
 Much higher switching speeds as compared to
thyristors. How????

 Used in dc-dc and dc-ac converters.

 Lower voltage and current ratings mean that
they are used in low-to-medium-power
applications.
 Power Transistor Classification
 Broadly classified into five categories:
 Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs)
 Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
(MOSFETs)
 Insulated-gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBTs)
 Static Induction Transistors (SITs)
 COOLMOS
 Bipolar Junction Transistors
 The BJT consists of a pnp or npn single crystal silicon
structure.
 It operates by the injection and collection of minority
carriers, both electrons and holes, and is therefore
termed a ‘Bipolar Transistor’.
 Bipolar Junction Transistors
 The n-collector region is the initial high resistivity
silicon material and the collector n+ diffusion is
performed first, usually into both sides.
 One n+ diffusion is lapped off and the p-base and n+
emitter diffusions are sequentially performed
 Bipolar Junction Transistors
 The n-type collector region is an epitaxial layer
grown on an n substrate. The base and emitter
are sequentially diffused into the epitaxy. This
approach allows greater control on the depth of
the n-type collector region which is particularly
important in specifying device switching and
high-voltage properties.
 Also the parasitic series collector resistance of
the substrate is minimized without
compromising the pellet's mechanical strength as
a result of a possible reduction in thickness.
BJT Working
 BJT Working
 Electrons lost to recombination in the p-base
must be resupplied through the base contact.
 It is also required that the emitter junction carrier
flow should be composed almost entirely of
electrons injected into the base, rather than holes
crossing from the base region to the emitter.
 BJT Working
 Any such holes must be provided by the base current,
which is minimized by doping the base region lightly
compared with the emitter such that an n+p emitter
results.
 Such a junction is said to have a high injection
efficiency.
 Holes swept into the base at the reverse-biased
collector junction because of thermal generation in
the collector must also be accounted for by the base
current.
 This base current component is generally very small
in high-voltage transistors when in the on-state since
the collector electric field is small.
BJT Characteristics
BJT Characteristics (Detailed)
Switching Characteristics

During switching,
BJT can go in
forward active
region, where
power dissipation
can cause heat
losses.
 Different Transistor Packages and their Pinouts

A new type of device?

FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTORS

Revision: Field Effect Transistors
 Their operation relies on an electric field (hence the
name field effect) generated by the
input Gate voltage, this then makes the Field Effect
Transistor a “VOLTAGE” operated device.
 Revision: Field Effect Transistors
 Just like the BJTs, the FETs have two basic
classifications:
 N-channel FET
 P-channel FET
 The field effect transistor is a three terminal device
that is constructed with no PN-junctions within the
main current carrying path between the Drain and
the Source terminals, which correspond in function
to the Collector and the Emitter respectively of the
bipolar transistor.
 The current path between these two terminals is
called the “channel” which may be made of either a
P-type or an N-type semiconductor material
 Revision: Field Effect Transistors
 The Field Effect Transistor on the other hand is a
“Unipolar” device that depends only on the
conduction of electrons (N-channel) or holes (P-
channel).
 There are two main types of field effect
transistor, the Junction Field Effect
Transistor or JFET and the Insulated-gate Field
Effect Transistor or IGFET), which is more
commonly known as the standard Metal Oxide
Semiconductor Field Effect
Transistor or MOSFET for short.
Revision: Junction Field Effect Transistors

 The gate-to-source
voltage is controlled
to control the width
of the depletion
region and hence
the current flowing
through the
transistor.
Revision: Junction Field Effect Transistors
As the Gate voltage ( -VGS ) is made more negative, the
width of the channel decreases until no more current
flows between the Drain and the Source and the FET is
said to be “pinched-off” (similar to the cut-off region
for a BJT). The voltage at which the channel closes is
called the “pinch-off voltage”, ( VP ).
 Revision: JFET Characteristic Curves

The voltage VGS applied to the Gate controls the current flowing between the Drain and the
Source terminals. VGS refers to the voltage applied between the Gate and the Source
while VDS refers to the voltage applied between the Drain and the Source.
 Revision: JFET Characteristic Curves
The characteristics curves example shown above, shows the
four different regions of operation for a JFET and these are
given as:
 Ohmic Region – When VGS = 0 the depletion layer of the
channel is very small and the JFET acts like a voltage controlled
resistor.
 Cut-off Region – This is also known as the pinch-off region were
the Gate voltage, VGS is sufficient to cause the JFET to act as an
open circuit as the channel resistance is at maximum.
 Saturation or Active Region – The JFET becomes a good
conductor and is controlled by the Gate-Source voltage, ( VGS )
while the Drain-Source voltage, ( VDS ) has little or no effect.
 Breakdown Region – The voltage between the Drain and the
Source, ( VDS ) is high enough to causes the JFET’s resistive
channel to break down and pass uncontrolled maximum
current.
 Such a long name!!
METAL OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR
FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR
 Revision: MOSFET
The IGFET or MOSFET is a voltage controlled field
effect transistor that differs from a JFET in that it has
a “Metal Oxide” Gate electrode which is electrically
insulated from the main semiconductor N-channel or
P-channel by a very thin layer of insulating material
usually silicon dioxide, commonly known as glass.
 Revision: MOSFET Types
Like JFETs, MOSFETs are three terminal devices with
a Gate, Drain and Source and both P-channel (PMOS)
and N-channel (NMOS) MOSFETs are available. The
main difference this time is that MOSFETs are available
in two basic forms:
1. 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.
2. 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
Revision: MOSFET Types
Revision: Basic MOSFET Structure
 Power MOSFETS
 When MOSFET is ‘on’ it acts like a resistor of Value
‘RDS(on)’.
 RDS(on) consists of two parts:
a) Conducting channel resistance
b) Resistance of the extended drain region. Which is unique to
Power MOS due to its vertical structure.
 Power MOSFETS
 Inherently fast switching speed of these devices
can be effectively utilized to increase the
switching frequency beyond several hundred kHz.
 Power MOSFETs require gate drive circuits to
make sure the correct voltage is applied to the
gates.
 Therefore, if fast charging and discharging of a
MOSFET is desired at fast switching frequency the
gate drive power requirement may become
significant.
 IGBTs
 Combination of MOSFET and Power BJT.
 IGBT is an integrated Darlington like connection of
MOSFET and BJT as shown Below.
 An IGBT is turned ON by just applying a positive gate
voltage to open the channel for n carriers and is turned
off by removing the gate voltage.
A controllable diode?
THYRISTORS
 Revision: Thyristor
A thyristor is a four layer pnpn semiconductor
device consisting of three pn junctions. It has three
terminals: an anode, a cathode and a gate.

symbol
 SCR Operation
 The SCR junctions are labeled as J1, J2, J3, and each of
the four layers as p1, n1, p2, n2.
The OFF State:
 When the SCR is off, it can block a reverse voltage or
a forward voltage.
 Following diagram shows SCLs when SCR is blocking
Reverse voltage. VAK is negative, J1& J3 are reverse
biased.
 SCR Operation
The OFF State:
 When VAK is positive, J1& J3 are forward biased and J2
is reverse biased.
 J2 withstands all the applied voltage.
 As the n1 region is more lightly doped than p2 region,
the SCL again grows into the n1 region.
 SCR Turn ON Process
 If VAK is positive, the SCR will block the voltage
when the gate is open.
 A momentary gate current can turn ‘on’ the SCR
and it will remain ‘on’ even if the gate current is
made zero.
 The SCR does not breakdown in the forward
direction, instead it turns on.
 This process is known as Breaking over and the
voltage at which it occurs is called the break over
voltage VBO.
SCR V-I Characteristics
SCR V-I Characteristics
 Important Characteristics
Latching Current 𝑰𝑳
 This is the minimum anode current required to
maintain the thyristor in the on-state immediately
after a thyristor has been turned on and the gate
signal has been removed.
Holding Current 𝑰𝑯
 This is the minimum anode current required to
maintain the thyristor in the on-state.
 To turn off a thyristor, the forward anode current must
be reduced below its holding current for a sufficient
time for mobile charge carriers to vacate the junction.
 Important Characteristics
Reverse Current 𝑰𝑹
 When the cathode voltage is positive with respect to
the anode, the junction J2 is forward biased but
junctions J1 and J3 are reverse biased. The thyristor is
said to be in the reverse blocking state and a reverse
leakage current known as reverse current IR will flow
through the device.
Forward Breakover Voltage 𝑽𝑩𝑶
 If the forward voltage VAK is increased beyond VBO , the
thyristor can be turned on. But such a turn-on could be
destructive.
 In practice, gate pulse is used.
 Bidirectional Triode Thyristors
 The bi-directional
thyristor or TRIAC
conducts current in
both directions and
is normally used in
ac phase control
circuits.
 It can be
considered as two
SCRs connected in
anti-parallel with a
common gate
connection.
 Bidirectional Triode Thyristors
 The purpose of the gate is to enable the device to be
switched from a non-conducting (forward blocking) mode
into a low resistance, forward conducting state.
 Thus a small current applied to the gate is able to switch
a much larger current (at a much higher voltage) applied
between anode and cathode.
 Thyristor (SCR) and GTO
Controllable diode with three terminal
 SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier)
 GTO (Gate turnoff thyristor)
 TRIACS and MCT
 Triac: Two back-to-back thyristor
 MCT (MOS controlled thyristor)
Application: AC voltage controllers

 T1 conducts if a gate
signal is applied during
the positive half-cycle of
the source
 T1 conducts until the
current in it reaches zero
 A gate signal is applied to
T2 during the negative
half-cycle of the source,
providing a path for
negative load current
ANY QUESTIONS?

Anyone willing to be the first to

present?
 Time allowed : 5 mins
 Topic : Any
 Bonus Points : +3
 References: Thyristors
 Chapter 20, ‘ Thyristors and Optoelectronic Devices’
 Introductory Electronic Devices and Circuits by Robert. T
Paynter
 Chapter 7: “Thyristors”
 ‘Power Electronics, Circuits, Devices and Applications’ by M.H
Rashid
 Lesson 4, ‘Thyristors and TRIACs’
 Power Semiconductor Devices, v2 EE IIT, Kharagpur
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage_controller
 http://www.electronics-
tutorials.ws/power/thyristor.html
 http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_3/chpt_2/11.html
 References: MOSFETs
 Chapter 12, ‘ Field Effect Transistors’
 Introductory Electronic Devices and Circuits by Robert. T
Paynter
 Chapter 13, ‘MOSFETs’
 Introductory Electronic Devices and Circuits by Robert. T
Paynter
 Lesson 6, ‘MOSFETs’
 Power Semiconductor Devices, v2 EE IIT, Kharagpur
 http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/transistor/tran_5.html
 http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/transistor/tran_6.html
 http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_3/chpt_5/1.html
 http://www.st-
andrews.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scots_Guide/first11/part7/page1.html
 References: BJTs
 Chapter 6, ‘ Bipolar Junction Transistors’
 Introductory Electronic Devices and Circuits by Robert. T
Paynter
 Lesson 3, ‘Bipolar Junction Transistors’
 Power Semiconductor Devices, v2 EE IIT, Kharagpur
 http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_3/chpt_4/1.ht
ml
 http://aries.ucsd.edu/NAJMABADI/CLASS/ECE65/12-
W/NOTES/BJT.pdf
 http://www.learn-about-electronics.com/transistor-
introduction.html
 http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/transistor.html
 Answer: 6
Explanation: Looking at the diagram in rows, the central circle
equals half the sum of the numbers in the other circles to the left
and right of the center.