EEE 1005

Power Electronics

Lecture 2

Md. Istianatur Rahman

Sr. Lecturer, EEE Dept
World University of Bangladesh
 V-I Characteristics of Power Diodes

The figure below shows the v-i characteristics of a power diode

which is almost similar to that of a signal diode.
• In signal diodes for forward, a biased region the current
increases exponentially however in power diodes high
forward current leads to high ohmic drop which dominates
the exponential growth and the curve increases almost
linearly.

• The maximum reverse voltage that the diode can withstand

is depicted by VRRM, i.e. peak reverse repetitive voltage.

• Above this voltage, the reverse current becomes very high

abruptly and as the diode is not designed to dissipate such a
high amount of heat, it may get destroyed. This voltage may
also be called peak inverse voltage (PIV).
Reverse Recovery Characteristics of Power
Diodes
• The figure depicts the reverse
recovery characteristic of a
power diode.

• Whenever the diode is

switched off the current
decays from IF to zero and
further continues in reverse
direction owing to the charges
stored in the space charge
region and the semiconductor
region.
• From the figure above, we see that

• ta → time when charge from depletion region is removed

tb → time when charge from semiconductor region is
removed

• Also from the figure, we can say that

Problem – 1
Problem – 2
 Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR)
• Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR) is a
unidirectional semiconductor device
made of silicon.

• This device is the solid state

equivalent of thyratron and hence it
is also referred to as thyristor or
thyroid transistor.

• In fact, SCR (Silicon Controlled

Rectifier) is a trade name given to
the thyristor by General Electric
Company.

• Basically, SCR is a three-terminal,

four-layer semiconductor device
consisting of alternate layers of p-
type and n-type material.
• Hence it has three pn junctions J 1, J2 and
J3. The figure below shows an SCR with
the layers p-n-p-n.

• The device has terminals Anode(A),

Cathode(K) and the Gate(G).

• The Gate terminal(G) is attached to the

p-layer nearer to the Cathode(K)
terminal.

• An SCR can be considered as two inter-

connected transistors as shown.
• It is seen that a single SCR is the combination of
one pnp transistor (Q1) and one npn transistor
(Q2).

• Here, the emitter of Q1 acts as the anode terminal

of the SCR while the emitter of Q2 is its cathode.

• Further, the base of Q1 is connected to the

collector of Q2 and the collector of Q1 is
connected to the base of Q2.

• The gate terminal of the SCR is connected to the

base of Q2, too.
 Reverse Blocking Mode of SCR
• In this mode, the SCR is reverse biased by connecting its
anode terminal (A) to negative end and the cathode
terminal (K) to the positive end of the battery.

• This leads to the reverse biasing of the junctions J1 and J3,

which in turn prohibits the flow of current through the
device, in spite of the fact that the junction J2 remains in
forward biased condition.

• In this state, the SCR behaves as a typical diode.

• In this reverse biased condition, only reverse saturation

current flows through the device as in the case of the
reverse biased diode which is shown in the characteristic
curve by blue line.

• The device also exhibits the reverse breakdown

phenomenon beyond a reverse safe voltage limit just like a
diode.
 Forward Blocking Mode of SCR
• Here a positive bias is applied to
the SCR by connecting anode
terminal (A) to the positive and
cathode terminal (K) to the
negative terminal of the battery,
as shown in the figure below.

• Under this condition, the

junction J1 and J3 get forward
biased while junction J2 gets
reverse biased.
• Here also current cannot pass through the thyristor except the tiny
current flowing as saturation current as shown by the blue curve in the
characteristics curve below.
Forward Conduction Mode of SCR
• The SCR can be made to
conduct either

(i) By increasing the positive

voltage applied at anode
terminal (A) beyond the
Break Over Voltage, VB or

(ii) By applying positive

voltage at the gate
terminal (G) as shown in
the figure.
• In the first case, the increase in the applied bias causes the
initially reverse biased junction J2 to break down at the
point corresponding to forward Break Over Voltage, VB.

• This results in the sudden increase in the current flowing

through the SCR as shown by the pink curve in the
characteristic curve, although the gate terminal of the SCR
remains unbiased.

• However, SCR can also be turned on at a much smaller

voltage level by proving small positive voltage at the gate
terminal.

• The reason behind this can be better understood by

considering the transistor equivalent circuit of the SCR
shown in the figure.
• Here it is seen that on applying a positive voltage at the
gate terminal, transistor Q2 switches ON and its collector
current flows into the base of transistor Q1.

• This causes Q1 to turn ON which in turn results in the

flow of its collector current into the base of Q2.

• This causes either transistor to get saturated at a very

rapid rate and the action cannot be stopped even by
removing the bias applied at the gate terminal, provided
the current through the SCR is greater than that of the
Latching current.

• Here the latching current is defined as the minimum

current required to maintain the SCR in conducting state
even after the gate pulse is removed.
• In such state, the SCR is said to be latched and
there will be no means to limit the current
through the device, unless by using an external
impedance in the circuit.

• This necessitates one to resort for different

techniques like Natural Commutation, Forced
Commutation or Reverse Bias Turn Off and Gate
Turn-Off to switch OFF a conducting SCR.

• Basically, all of these techniques aim at reducing

the anode current below the Holding Current.
Holding current is defined as the minimum
current to maintain the SCR in its conducting
mode.
 Two-Transistor Model of Thyristor
• The regenerative or latching
action due to a positive
feedback can be
demonstrated by using a
two-transistor model of
thyristor.

• A thyristor can be
considered as two
complementary transistors,
one PNP-transistor, Q1, and
other NPN-transistor, Q2, as
shown
 Thyristor Turn-On
• A thyristor is turned on by increasing the anode current. This can be
accomplished in one of the following ways.

• Thermals. If the temperature of a thyristor is high, there is an increase in

the number of electron–hole pairs, which increases the leakage
currents. This increase in currents causes α1 and α2 to increase. Due to
the regenerative action, α1 + α2 may tend to unity and the thyristor may
be turned on. This type of turn-on may cause thermal runaway and is
normally avoided.

• Light. If light is allowed to strike the junctions of a thyristor, the

electron–hole pairs increase; and the thyristor may be turned on. The
light-activated thyristors are turned on by allowing light to strike the
silicon wafers.
• High voltage. If the forward anode-to-cathode voltage is greater than the
forward breakdown voltage VBO, sufficient leakage current flows to initiate
regenerative turn-on. This type of turn-on may be destructive and should
be avoided.

• dv/dt. It can be noted from Eq. (9.6) that if the rate of rise of the anode–
cathode voltage is high, the charging current of the capacitive junctions
may be sufficient enough to turn on the thyristor. A high value of charging
current may damage the thyristor; and the device must be protected
against high dv/dt. The manufacturers specify the maximum allowable
dv/dt of thyristors.

• Gate current. If a thyristor is forward biased, the injection of gate current

by applying positive gate voltage between the gate and cathode terminals
turns on the thyristor. As the gate current is increased, the forward
blocking voltage is decreased, as shown in Figure 9.7.
• Figure 9.8 shows the waveform of the anode current, following the
application of gate signal.

• There is a time delay known as turn-on time ton between the application of
gate signal and the conduction of a thyristor.

• ton is defined as the time interval between 10% of steady-state gate current
(0.1IG) and 90% of the steady-state thyristor on-state current (0.9IT).

• ton is the sum of delay time td and rise time tr . td is defined as the time
interval between 10% of gate current (0.1IG) and 10% of thyristor on-state
current (0.1IT).

• tr is the time required for the anode current to rise from 10% of on-state
current (0.1IT) to 90% of on-state current (0.9IT). These times are depicted
in Figure 9.8.
Problem – 3
 Power Transistors

• Power transistors
are three terminal
devices which are
composed of
semiconductor
materials. They
feature emitter,
base and collector
terminals.

• These devices are

particularly
designed to control
high current –
voltage rating.
• The speciality of this device is when voltage or
current is applied to one pair of terminals, it
controls the voltage or current at the other pair of
terminals.

• These transistors might be either of NPN or PNP

polarity.

• Power transistors are available in different types

with different power and switching speed ratings.