Advanced Electronics

Introduction to Power Electronics Devices

 The branch of electronics which deals with the control of power at 50 Hz (i.e. supply frequency) is
known as power electronics.
 There are many applications where it is desired to control (or regulate) the power fed to a load e.g.
to change the speed of a fan or motor.
 The important semiconductor switching devices are :
(i) Silicon controlled rectifier (SCR).
(ii) Triac.
(iii) Diac.
(iv) Unijunction transistor (UJT).

Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR)

 The silicon controlled rectifier (abbreviated as SCR) is a three-terminal semiconductor switching
device which is probably the most important circuit element after the diode and the transistor.
 SCR can be used as a controlled switch to perform various functions such as rectification, inversion
and regulation of power flow.
 The SCR can be produced in versions to handle currents up to several thousand amperes and
voltages up to more than 1 kV.
 The SCR has appeared in the market under different names such as Thyristor, Thyrode transistor.
 SCR is a unidirectional power switch and is being extensively used in switching d.c. and a.c.,
rectifying a.c. to give controlled d.c. output, converting d.c. into a.c. etc.
 A silicon controlled rectifier is a semiconductor device that acts as a true electronic switch. It can
change alternating current into direct current and at the same time can control the amount of power fed
to the load. Thus SCR combines the features of a rectifier and a transistor.

Constructional Details
 When a p-n junction is added to a junction transistor, the resulting three p-n junction device is called
a silicon controlled rectifier. Fig. (i) shows its construction. It is clear that it is essentially an ordinary
rectifier (p-n) and a junction transistor (npn) combined in one unit to form pnpn device.
 Three terminals are taken; one from the outer p-type material called Anode (A), second from the
outer n-type material called Cathode (K) and the third from the base of transistor section and is called
Gate (G). In the normal operating conditions of SCR, anode is held at high positive potential w.r.t.
cathode and gate at small positive potential w.r.t. cathode.
 Fig (ii) shows the symbol of SCR.

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Equivalent Circuit of SCR

The SCR shown in Fig. (i) below can be visualised as separated into two transistors as shown in Fig.
(ii). Thus, the equivalent circuit of SCR is composed of pnp transistor and npn transistor connected as
shown in Fig. (iii) below. It is clear that collector of each transistor is coupled to the base of the other,
thereby making a positive feedback loop.

Fig. below. shows the equivalent circuit of SCR with supply voltage V and load resistance RL. Assume
the supply voltage V is less than break over voltage as is usually the case. With gate open (i.e. switch S
open), there is no base current in transistor T2. Therefore, no current flows in the collector of T2 and
hence that of T1. Under such conditions, the SCR is open. However, if switch S is closed, a small gate
current will flow through the base of T2 which means its collector current will increase. The collector
current of T2 is the base current of T1. Therefore, collector current of T1 increases. But collector current
of T1 is the base current of T2. This action is accumulative since an increase of current in one transistor
causes an increase of current in the other transistor. As a result of this action, both transistors are driven
to saturation, and heavy current flows through the load RL. Under such conditions, the SCR closes.

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The following conclusions are drawn from the working of SCR:

(i) 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.
(ii) 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.
(iii) 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.
(iv) To open the SCR (i.e. to make it non-conducting ), reduce the supply voltage to zero.

V-I Characteristics of SCR

It is the curve between anode-cathode voltage (V) and anode current (I) of an SCR at constant gate
current. Fig. below shows the V-I characteristics of a typical SCR.
In a conventional SCR, once it has been switched on by the gate terminal, the device remains latched
in the on-state (i.e. does not need a continuous supply of gate current to remain in the on state),
providing the anode current has exceeded the latching current (IL). As long as the anode remains
positively biased, it cannot be switched off until the anode current falls below the holding current (IH).
An SCR can be switched off if the external circuit causes the anode to become negatively biased (a
method known as natural, or line, commutation).
After the current an SCR has extinguished, a finite time delay must elapse before the anode can again
be positively biased and retain the SCR in the off-state. This minimum delay is called the circuit
commutated turn off time (tQ). Attempting to positively bias the anode within this time causes the SCR

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to be self-triggered by the remaining charge carriers (holes and electrons) that have not yet recombined.

Important Terms

The following terms are much used in the study of SCR :

(i) Breakover voltage.

(ii) Peak reverse voltage.
(iii) Holding current.
(iv) Forward current rating.

(i) Breakover voltage (VBO). It is the minimum forward voltage, gate being open, at which SCR
starts conducting heavily i.e. turned on.

Thus, if the breakover voltage of an SCR is 200 V, it means that it can block a forward voltage (i.e.
SCR remains open) as long as the supply voltage is less than 200 V. If the supply voltage is more than
this value, then SCR will be turned on. In practice, the SCR is operated with supply voltage less than
breakover voltage and it is then turned on by means of a small voltage applied to the gate. Commercially
available SCRs have breakover voltages from about 50 V to 500 V.
(ii) Peak Reverse Voltage (VBR). It is the maximum reverse voltage (cathode positive w.r.t. anode)
that can be applied to an SCR without conducting in the reverse direction.
Peak reverse voltage is an important consideration while connecting an SCR in an a.c. circuit. During
the negative half of a.c. supply, reverse voltage is applied across SCR. If VBR is exceeded, there may be
avalanche breakdown and the SCR will be damaged if the external circuit does not limit the current.
Commercially available SCRs have VBR ratings up to 2.5 kV.

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(iii) ) Holding Current (IH). It is the maximum anode current, gate being open, at which SCR is turned
off from ON conditions.
When SCR is in the conducting state, it cannot be turned OFF even if gate voltage is removed. The
only way to turn off or open the SCR is to reduce the supply voltage to almost zero at which point the
internal transistor comes out of saturation and opens the SCR. The anode current under this condition
is very small (a few mA) and is called holding current. Thus, if an SCR has a holding current of 5mA,
it means that if anode current is made less than 5mA, then SCR will be turned off.
(iv) Forward Current Rating. It is the maximum anode current that an SCR is capable of passing
without destruction.
Every SCR has a safe value of forward current which it can conduct. If the value of current exceeds
this value, the SCR may be destroyed due to intensive heating at the junctions. For example, if an SCR
has a forward current rating of 40A, it means that the SCR can safely carry only 40 A. Any attempt to
exceed this value will result in the destruction of the SCR. Commercially available SCRs have forward
current ratings from about 30A to 100A.
SCR Half-Wave Rectifier

One important application of an SCR is the controlled half-wave rectification. Fig. (i) below shows the
circuit of an SCR half-wave rectifier. The a.c. supply to be rectified is supplied through the transformer.
The load resistance RL is connected in series with the anode. A variable resistance r is inserted in the
gate circuit to control the gate current.

Operation. The a.c. supply to be converted into d.c. supply is applied to the primary of the transformer.
Suppose the peak reverse voltage appearing across secondary is less than the reverse breakdown
voltage of the SCR. This condition ensures that SCR will not break down during negative half-cycles
of a.c. supply. The circuit action is as follows:
(i) During the negative half-cycles of a.c. voltage appearing across secondary, the SCR does not conduct
regardless of the gate voltage. It is because in this condition, anode is negative w.r.t. cathode and also
PRV is less than the reverse breakdown voltage.

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(ii) The SCR will conduct during the positive half-cycles provided proper gate current is made to flow.
The greater the gate current, the lesser the supply voltage at which SCR is turned ON. The gate current
can be changed by the variable resistance r as shown in Fig. (i).
(iii) Suppose that gate current is adjusted to such a value that SCR closes at a positive voltage V1
which is less than the peak voltage Vm. Referring to Fig. (ii), it is clear that SCR will start conducting
when secondary a.c. voltage becomes V1 in the positive half-cycle. Beyond this, the SCR will continue
to conduct till voltage becomes zero at which point it is turned OFF. Again at the start of the next
positive half-cycle, SCR will start conducting when secondary voltage becomes V1.
(iv) Referring to Fig.(ii), it is clear that firing angle is α i.e. at this angle in the positive half-cycle, SCR
starts conduction. The conduction angle is φ (= 180° − α). Therefore, an SCR can control power fed to
the load and hence the name controlled rectifier.
Mathematical Treatment. Referring to Fig. (i) above, let v = Vm sin θ be the alternating voltage that
appears across the secondary. Let α be the firing angle. It means that rectifier will conduct from α to
180° during the positive half-cycles.

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The Triac
 The major drawback of an SCR is that it can conduct current in one direction only. Therefore, an
SCR can only control d.c. power or forward biased half-cycles of a.c. in a load. However, in an a.c.
system, it is often desirable and necessary to exercise control over both positive and negative half
cycles. For this purpose, a semiconductor device called triac is used.
 A triac is a three-terminal semiconductor switching device which can control alternating current in
a load.
 ‘Tri’– indicates that the device has three terminals and ‘ac’ means that the device controls alternating
current or can conduct current in either direction.

Triac Construction
 A triac is a three-terminal, five-layer semiconductor device whose forward and reverse
characteristics are indentical to the forward characteristics of the SCR. The three terminals are
designated as main terminal MT1, main terminal MT2 and gate G.
 Fig.(i) below shows the basic structure of a triac. A triac is equivalent to two separate SCRs
connected in inverse parallel (i.e. anode of each connected to the cathode of the other) with gates
commoned as shown in Fig. (ii) below.
 Fig.(iii) below shows the schematic symbol of a triac. The symbol consists of two parallel diodes
connected in opposite directions with a single gate lead. It can be seen that even the symbol of triac
indicates that it can conduct current for either polarity of the main terminals (MT1 and MT2) i.e. it can
act as a bidirectional switch. The gate provides control over conduction in either direction.

The following points many be noted about the triac :

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(i) The triac can conduct current (of course with proper gate current) regardless of the polarities of the
main terminals MT1 and MT2. Since there is no longer a specific anode or cathode, the main leads are
referred to as MT1 and MT2.
(ii) A triac can be turned on either with a positive or negative voltage at the gate of the device.
(iii) Like the SCR, once the triac is fired into conduction, the gate loses all control. The triac can be
turned off by reducing the circuit current to the value of holding current.

(v) The main disadvantage of triacs over SCRs is that triacs have considerably lower current handling
capabilities. Most triacs are available in ratings of less than 40A at voltages up to 600V.

Triac Operation
Fig. shows below the simple triac circuit. The a.c. supply to be controlled is connected across the main
terminals of triac through a load resistance RL. The gate circuit consists of battery, a current limiting
resistor R and a switch S. The circuit action is as follows:
(i) With switch S open, there will be no gate current and the triac is cut off. Even with no gate current,
the triac can be turned on provided the supply voltage becomes equal to the breakover voltage of triac.
However, the normal way to turn on a triac is by introducing a proper gate current.
(ii) When switch S is closed, the gate current starts flowing in the gate circuit. In a similar manner to
SCR, the breakover voltage of the triac can be varied by making proper gate current to flow.
With a few milliamperes introduced at the gate, the triac will start conducting whether terminal MT2 is
positive or negative w.r.t. MT1.

(iii) If terminal MT2 is positive w.r.t. MT1, the triac turns on and the conventional current will flow
from MT2 to MT1. If the terminal MT2 is negative w.r.t. MT1, the triac is again turned on but this time
the conventional current flows from MT1 to MT2.

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The above action of triac reveals that it can act as an a.c. contactor to switch on or off alternating
current to a load. The additional advantage of triac is that by adjusting the gate current to a
proper value, any portion of both positive and negative half-cycles of a.c. supply can be made to
flow through the load. This permits to adjust the transfer of a.c. power from the source to the load.

Triac Phase Control Circuit

A triac can be used to control the average a.c. power to a load by passing a portion of positive
and negative half-cycles of input a.c. This is achieved by changing the conduction angle through
the load. Fig. below shows the basic triac phase control circuit. This circuit uses a capacitor C
and variable resistance R1 to shift the phase angle of the gate signal. Because of this phase shift,
the gate voltage

lags the line voltage by an angle between 0° and 90°. By adjusting the variable resistance R1, the
conduction angle through the load can be changed. Thus any portion of positive and negative
half- cycles of the a.c. can be passed through the load. This action of triac permits it to be
used as a controlled bidirectional switch.

Circuit action. The operation of triac phase control circuit is as under :

(i) During each positive half-cycle of the a.c., the triac is off for a certain interval, called firing
angle α (measured in degrees) and then it is triggered on and conducts current through the
load for the remaining portion of the positive half-cycle, called the conduction angle θC . The
value of firing angle α (and hence θC)can be changed by adjusting the variable resistance R1. If R1
is increased, the capacitor will charge more slowly, resulting in the triac being triggered later
in the cycle i.e. firing angle α is increased while conduction angle θC is decreased. As a result,
smaller a.c. power is fed to the load. Reverse happens if the resistance R1 is decreased.
(ii) During each negative half-cycle of the a.c., a similar action occurs except that now current
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in the load is in the opposite direction.

Fig. below shows the waveforms of the line voltage and gate voltage. Only the shaded portion
of the positive and negative half-cycles pass through the load. We can change the phase angle of
gate voltage by adjusting the variable resistance R1. Thus a triac can control the a.c. power
fed to a load. This control of a.c. power is useful in many applications such as industrial heating,
lighting etc.

DIAC
The diac is basically a two-terminal parallel-inverse combination of semiconductor layers that
permits triggering in either direction. The characteristics of the device, presented in Fig. (a)
below, clearly demonstrate that there is a breakover voltage in either direction. This possibility of
an on condition in either direction can be used to its fullest advantage in ac applications.

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The basic arrangement of the semiconductor layers of the diac is shown in Fig.(b), along with
its graphical symbol. Note that neither terminal is referred to as the cathode. Instead, there is an
anode 1

(or electrode 1) and an anode 2 (or electrode 2). When anode 1 is positive with respect to anode 2,
the semiconductor layers of particular interest are p1n2p2 and n3. For anode 2 positive with
respect to anode 1, the applicable layers are p2n2p1 and n1.

Unijunction Transistor (UJT)

A unijunction transistor (abbreviated as UJT) is a three-terminal semiconductor switching device.

This device has a unique characteristic that when it is triggered, the emitter current increases re-
generatively until it is limited by emitter power supply. Due to this characteristic, the unijunction
transistor can be employed in a variety of applications e.g., switching, pulse generator, saw-tooth
generator etc.

Construction. Fig.(i) below shows the basic *structure of a unijunction transistor. It consists of an
n-type silicon bar with an electrical connection on each end. The leads to these connections are
called base leads base-one B1 and base two B2. Part way along the bar between the two bases,
nearer to B2 than B1, a pn junction is formed between a p-type emitter and the bar. The lead to this
junction is called the emitter lead E. Fig. (ii) shows the symbol of unijunction transistor.

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Equivalent Circuit of a UJT

Fig. 21.26 shows the equivalent circuit of a UJT. The resistance of the silicon bar is called
the inter-base resistance RBB. The inter-base resistance is represented by two resistors in series
viz.

(a) RB2 is the resistance of silicon bar between B2 and the point at which the emitter junction lies.

(b) RB1 is the resistance of the bar between B1 and emitter junction. This resistance is shown
variable because its value depends upon the bias voltage across the pn junction.

The circuit action of a UJT can be explained more clearly from its equivalent circuit.

(i) With no voltage applied to the UJT, the inter-base resistance is given by;
RBB = RB1 + RB2
(ii) If a voltage VBB is applied between the bases with emitter open, the voltage will divide up
across RB1 and RB2.

The ratio V1/VBB is called intrinsic stand-off ratio and is represented by Greek letter η.

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(iii) If now a progressively rising positive voltage is applied to the emitter, the diode will become
forward biased when input voltage exceeds η VBB by VD, the forward voltage drop across the silicon
diode i.e.

VP = η VBB + VD

where VP = ‘peak point voltage’

VD = forward voltage drop across silicon diode ( 0.7 V).

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