Unit – I

POWER SEMI CONDUCTOR DEVICES

Syllabus: Semiconductor Power Diodes, Thyristors – Silicon Controlled Rectifiers (SCR’s) – TRIACs, GTOs -
Characteristics and Principles of Operation and other Thyristors – Classification of Switching Devices Based
on Frequency and Power Handling Capacity - BJT – Power Transistor - Power MOSFET – Power IGBT – Basic
Theory of Operation of SCR – Static Characteristics – Turn On and Turn Off Methods- Dynamic Characteristics
of SCR - Two Transistor Analogy – Triggering Circuits––– Series and Parallel Connections of SCR‟s – Snubber
Circuits – Specifications and Ratings of SCR‟s, BJT, IGBT.

1.1 Introduction to Power Electronics:

Definition: Power electronics is the application of solid-state electronics to the control and conversion of
electric power.

Fig 1.1: Power Electronic Converter block diagram

Power Electronics is a field which combines Power (electric power), Electronics and Control systems. Power
engineering deals with the static and rotating power equipment for the generation, transmission and
distribution of electric power. Electronics deals with the study of solid state semiconductor power devices
and circuits for Power conversion to meet the desired control objectives (to control the output voltage and
output power). Power electronics may be defined as the subject of applications of solid state power
semiconductor devices (Thyristors) for the control and conversion of electric power. Power electronics deals
with the study and design of Thyristorised power controllers for variety of application like Heat control,
Light/Illumination control, Motor control - AC/DC motor drives used in industries, High voltage power
supplies, Vehicle propulsion systems, High voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission.

1.1.1 Brief History of Power Electronics:

The first Power Electronic Device developed was the Mercury Arc Rectifier during the year 1900. Then the
other Power devices like metal tank rectifier, grid controlled vacuum tube rectifier, ignitron, phanotron,
thyratron and magnetic amplifier, were developed & used gradually for power control applications until
1950. The first SCR (silicon controlled rectifier) or Thyristor was invented and developed by Bell Lab's in 1956

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which was the first PNPN triggering transistor. The second electronic revolution began in the year 1958 with
the development of the commercial grade Thyristor by the General Electric Company (GE). Thus the new era
of power electronics was born. After that many different types of power semiconductor devices & power
conversion techniques have been introduced. The power electronics revolution is giving us the ability to
convert, shape and control large amounts of power.

1.1.2 Power Electronic Applications

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, 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.
Aerospace Applications: Space shuttle power supply systems, satellite power systems, aircraft power
systems.
Tele Communications: Battery chargers, power supplies (DC and UPS), mobile cell phone battery chargers.
Transportation: Traction control of electric vehicles, battery chargers for electric vehicles, electric
locomotives, 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 water
pumps.
Power Semiconductor Devices: The power semiconductor devices are used as on/off switches in power
control circuit. These devices are classified as follows.

1.2 Power Diodes & it’s Characteristics

A Power diode and thyristor devices are most important in different power electronic converter topologies.
However, the main differences between them is that the latter (thyristor) is a controlled device when it is

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turned on. Power diode controlled by the input source, while thyristors required to conditions to be
controlled; the input source and gate control signal.
1.2.1 Power Diodes:
Power diodes are made of silicon p-n junction with two terminals, anode and cathode. Diode is forward
biased when anode is made positive with respect to the cathode. Diode conducts fully when the diode
voltage is more than the cut-in voltage (0.7 V for Si). Conducting diode will have a small voltage drop across
it. Diode is reverse biased when cathode is made positive with respect to anode. When reverse biased, a
small reverse current known as leakage current flows. This leakage current increases with increase in
magnitude of reverse voltage until avalanche voltage is reached (breakdown voltage). (The above points are
common for power diode and signal (or normal p-n) diode.

Fig1.2: Constriction of Power Diode

Constriction of Power Diode:
 As shown in the figure, there is heavily doped n + substrate, this substrate forms a cathode of the power
diode.
 On n+ substrate, lightly doped n- epitaxial layer is grown. This layer is also known as drift region.
 The PN junction is formed by diffusing a heavily doped p + region. This p+ region forms anode of the
diode.
 The thickness of n- drift region depends upon the breakdown voltage of the diode.
 The drift region determines the reverse breakdown voltage of the diode.
 Its function is to absorb the depletion layer of the reverse biased p+n- junction.
 As it is lightly doped, it will add significant Ohmic resistance to the diode when it is forward biased.
 For higher breakdown voltages, the drift region is wide.
 The n- drift region is absent in low power signal diodes.
Conductivity modulation of drift layer:
 When the power diode is forward biased (anode is made positive with respect to cathode), the holes
will be injected from the p+ region into the drift region.
 Some of the holes combine with the electrons in the drift region. Since injected holes are large, they
attract electrons from the n+ layer.
 Thus holes and electrons are injected in the drift region simultaneously.

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 Hence resistance of the drift region reduces significantly.
 Thus diode current goes on increasing, but drift region resistance remains constant.
 So on-state losses in the diode are reduced. This phenomenon is called as Conductivity modulation of
drift region.
Significance of drift region:
Higher the thickness of the drift region, higher will be the reverse blocking capacity of diode. Note that Signal
diodes block 20 V whereas power diodes block almost 2000 V in reverse biased condition.

Fig.1.3: V-I Characteristics of diode (both power diode and signal diode)
Reverse Recovery Characteristics: When a diode is in forward conduction mode, a sudden reversal of the
polarity of the applied voltage would not stop the diode current at once. But the diode continues to conduct
in the opposite direction due to minority carriers that remain stored in p-n junction and the bulk
semiconductor material. Fig (below) shows the effect of minority carriers on the turn off characteristics of
the power diode.

Fig.1.4: Reverse recovery characteristics of diode

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The charge carriers (holes & electrons) require a certain time to recombine with opposite charges and to be
neutralized; this time is called the reverse recovery time trr of the diode.
From Fig(above), one can found the following relationships:
1 1 1
trr = ta + tb , Ιrr = ta (di/dt) then Qrr = ΙRM ta + ΙRM tb = ΙRM trr and
2 2 2
2𝑄𝑟𝑟 𝑑𝑖
ΙRM ≌ = ta ( )
𝑡𝑟𝑟 𝑑𝑡

For Fast Recovery; tb ≪ ta

That gives us ta is approximately equal to trr

2𝑄𝑟𝑟 𝑑𝑖
Therefore, trr = √ 𝑑𝑖 , Hence, ΙRM = (√2𝑄𝑟𝑟 )
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑡

1.2.2 Power Diodes Types

Based on the diode reverse recovery characteristics power diode are classified into:
a) Standard Recovery (General) Diodes
b) Fast Recovery Diodes
c) Schottky Diodes
For high frequency rectifier applications, Fast recovery and Schottky Diodes are generally used because of
their short reverse recovery time and low voltage drop in their forward bias condition

1.2.3 Comparison Between Different Types of Power Diodes

General Purpose Diodes Fast Recovery Diodes Schottky Diodes

Up to 5000V & 3500A Up to 3000V and 1000A Up to 100V and 300A
High Reverse recovery time Low Reverse recovery time Reverse recovery time – Extremely

(trr = 25µs) (trr = 0.1 µs to 5 µs) low. (trr = a few nanoseconds)

Turn off time - High Turn off time - Low Turn off time – Extremely low

Switching frequency – Low Switching frequency – High Switching frequency – Very

high.

Applications: Battery Charging, Applications: Choppers, Applications: High frequency

Electric Traction, Electro plating, Commutation Circuits, SMPS. instrumentation, Switching Power
Welding, UPS Induction heating Supplies

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1.3 Power Transistors: Transistors which have high voltage and high current rating are called power
transistors. Power transistors used as switching elements, are operated in saturation region resulting in a
low - on state voltage drop. Switching speed of transistors is much higher than the thyristors. And they are
extensively used in dc-dc and dc-ac converters with inverse parallel connected diodes to provide bi-
directional current flow. However, voltage and current ratings of power transistor are much lower than the
thyristors. Transistors are used in low to medium power applications. Transistors are current controlled
device and to keep it in the conducting state, a continuous base current is required. Power transistors are
classified as follows
• Bi-Polar Junction Transistors (BJTs)
• Metal-Oxide Semi-Conductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs)
• Insulated Gate Bi-Polar Transistors (IGBTs)

1.3.1 Power BJT: Power BJT is used traditionally for many applications. However, IGBT (Insulated-Gate
Bipolar Transistor) and MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor) have replaced it for
most of the applications but still they are used in some areas due to its lower saturation voltage over the
operating temperature range. IGBT and MOSFET have higher input capacitance as compared to BJT. Thus, in
case of IGBT and MOSFET, drive circuit must be capable to charge and discharge the internal capacitances.

The BJT is a three-layer and two-junction npn or pnp semiconductor device as given in Fig. (a) and (b).
Although BJTs have lower input capacitance as compared to MOSFET or IGBT, BJTs are considerably slower
in response due to low input impedance. BJTs use more silicon for the same drive performance. Power BJT is
different in configuration as compared to simple planar BJT. In planar BJT, collector and emitter is on the
same side of the wafer while in power BJT it is on the opposite edges as shown in Fig. 23. This is done to
increase the power-handling capability of BJT.

Fig.1.5: Construction of Power BJT

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Input and output characteristics of planar BJT for common-emitter configuration are shown in Fig.(below).
These are current-voltage characteristics curves.

Fig: 1.6 Input and output characteristics of planar BJT for common-emitter configuration

Figure 1.7: Turn-On and Turn-Off Characteristics of BJT

1.3.2 Power Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (Power MOSFET):
MOSFET is a voltage-controlled majority carrier (or unipolar) three-terminal device. Its symbols is shown in
Fig(a). As compared to the simple lateral channel MOSFET for low-power signals, power MOSFET has
different structure. It has a vertical channel structure where the source and the drain are on the opposite
side of the silicon wafer as shown in Fig. 1.8. This opposite placement of the source and the drain increases
the capability of the power MOSFET to handle larger power.

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 Fig 1.8 (a): MOSFET Symbol
N-channel enhancement type MOSFET is more common due to high mobility of electrons.

Figure 1.8 (b): Cross-Sectional View of the Power MOSFET

Basic circuit diagram and output characteristics of an n-channel enhancement power MOSFET with load
connected are in Fig. 1.9 and Fig. 1.10 respectively.

Figure 1.9. Power MOSFET Structural View with Connections

Drift region shown in Fig. 1.9 determines the voltage-blocking capability of the MOSFET.
When VGS = 0, ⇒ VDD makes it reverse biased and no current flows from drain to source.
When VGS > 0, ⇒ Electrons form the current path as shown in Fig. 1.9.
Thus, current from the drain to the source flows. Now, if we will increase the gate-to-source voltage, drain
current will also increase.

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 Figure 1.10: Drain Current (ID) vs Drain-to-Source Voltage (VDS) Characteristics Curves

Figure 1.11: Output Characteristics with Load Line

Summary of Comparison between BJT and MOSFET:

S
BJT MOSFET
No
1 It is a Bipolar Device It is majority carrier Device
2 Current control Device Voltage control Device.
3 Output is controlled by controlling base current Output is controlled by controlling gate voltage
4 Negative temperature coefficient Positive temperature coefficient
5 So paralleling of BJT is difficult. So paralleling of this device is easy.
Dive circuit is complex. It should provide constant Dive circuit is simple. It should provide constant
6
current(Base current) voltage(gate voltage)
7 Losses are low. Losses are higher than BJTs.
8 So used in high power applications. Used in low power applications.

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9 BJTs have high voltage and current ratings. They have less voltage and current ratings.
10 Switching frequency is lower than MOSFET. Switching frequency is high.

1.3.3 Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)

IGBT is a relatively new device in power electronics and before the advent of IGBT, Power MOSFETs and
Power BJT were common in use in power electronic applications. Both of these devices possessed some
advantages and simultaneously some disadvantages. On one hand we had bad switching performance, low
input impedance, secondary breakdown and current controlled Power BJT and on the other we had excellent
conduction characteristics of it. Similarly, we had excellent switching characteristics, high input impedance,
voltage controlled PMOSFETs, which also had bad conduction characteristics and problematic parasitic diode
at higher ratings. Though unipolar nature of PMOSFETs leads to low switching times, it also leads to high ON-
state resistance as the voltage rating increases.

Static I-V Characteristics of IGBT

The figure below shows static i-v characteristics of an n-channel IGBT along with a circuit diagram with the
parameters marked.

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The graph is similar to that of a BJT except that the parameter which is kept constant for a plot is V GE
because IGBT is a voltage controlled device unlike BJT which is a current controlled device. When the device
is in OFF mode (VCE is positive and VGE < VGET) the reverse voltage is blocked by J2 and when it is reverse
biased, i.e. VCE is negative, J1 blocks the voltage.

Transfer Characteristics of IGBT

Figure below shows the transfer characteristic of IGBT, which is exactly same as PMOSFET. The IGBT is in ON-
state only after VGE is greater than a threshold value VGET.

Switching Characteristics of IGBT

The figure below shows the typical switching characteristic of IGBT.

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Turn on time ton is composed of two components as usual, delay time (tdn) and rise time (tr). Delay time is
defined as the time in which collector current rises from leakage current I CE to 0.1 IC (final collector current)
and collector emitter voltage falls from VCE to 0.9VCE. Rise time is defined as the time in which collector
current rises from 0.1 IC to IC and collector emitter voltage falls from 0.9VCE to 0.1 VCE.

The turn off time toff consists of three components, delay time (tdf), initial fall time (tf1) and final fall time (tf2).
Delay time is defined as time when collector current falls from IC to 0.9IC and VCE begins to rise. Initial fall
time is the time during which collector current falls from 0.9 IC to 0.2IC and collector emitter voltage rises to
0.1VCE. The final fall time is defined as time during which collector current falls from 0.2IC to 0.1IC and
0.1VCE rises to final value VCE.

Advantages of IGBT are

 Lower gate drive requirements

 Low switching losses
 Small snubber circuitry requirements
 High input impedance since voltage controlled device
 Temperature coefficient of ON state resistance is positive and less than PMOSFET, hence less On-
state voltage drop and power loss.
 Enhanced conduction due to bipolar nature
 Better Safe Operating Area
Disadvantages of IGBT are

 Cost
 Latching-up problem
 High turn off time compared to PMOSFET

Thyristors: The word thyristor is derived from thyratron and transistor. It was invented in the year 1957 at
Bell Labs. It constitutes of three more junctions. It has two stable states, an ON-state and an OFF- state and
can change its state from one to another
Different types of Thyristor devices are discussed below.

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1.4 Silicon Controlled Rectifiers (SCR): SCR is the oldest and first member of the thyristor family. It is called
SCR because silicon is used for its construction and its operation as a rectifier (very low resistance in forward
condition and very high resistance in reverse biased condition) and can be controlled. The SCR has 3-
terminals namely: Anode (A), Cathode (k) and Gate(G). Internally it is having 4-layers p-n-p-n as shown in
figure (b). SCR is a unidirectional device which blocks current flow from cathode to anode.

Fig.1.2 (a). Symbol Fig.1.2 (b). Structure of SCR

1.4.1 Static V-I Characteristics of SCR:

An elementary circuit diagram for obtaining static V-I characteristics of SCR is shown in the fig.

The anode and cathode are connected to main source through the load. The gate and cathode are fed from
another source 'Es'. The static V-I characteristics of SCR are shown below.

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Where,
Va is Anode voltage
VBO is forward break-over voltage
VBR is reverse breakdown voltage
IG is gate current
IL is Latching current
IH is Holding current
The three basic modes of operation of SCR are:
Forward Blocking mode, Forward conduction mode and Reverse Blocking mode
Forward Blocking mode:
 When anode is at a higher potential than cathode, thyristor is said to be forward biased, it is seen from
the figure that when the gate circuit is open J1 and J3 are forward biased and junction J2 is reverse bias.
 In this mode a small current, called forward leakage current flows from anode to cathode.
 OM represents the forward blocking mode of SCR
 SCR is treated as an open switch in the forward blocking mode.
Forward Conduction mode:
 When anode to cathode forward voltage is increased with gate circuit open, reverse biased junction J2
will have an avalanche breakdown at a voltage called forward break-over voltage VBO.
 After this breakdown, thyristor gets turned ON with point 'M' at once shifting to 'N'. Here NK represents
the forward conduction mode.
 A thyristor can be brought from forward blocking mode to forward conducting mode by applying:

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 a) A positive gate pulse between gate and cathode or
b) A forward break-over voltage VBO across anode and cathode.
Voltage drop across the SCR 'VT' increases slightly with an increase in anode current. It can be seen from NK.
Latching Current:
It is defined as the minimum value of anode current which it(anode) must attain during turn-on process to
maintain conduction when gate signal is removed.
The gate pulse width should be chosen to ensure that the anode current rises above the latching current.
Holding Current:
It is defined as the minimum value of anode current below which the SCR gets turned off. Latching current is
more than Holding current.
Latching current is associated with turn on process. Holding current is associated with turn off process.
Reverse Blocking mode:
 When cathode is made high potential with respect to anode with gate open, then the SCR is said to be
reverse biased.
 J1 and J3 are reverse biased and J2 is forward biased.
 A small current flows through the SCR this is called as reverse leakage current.
 This is reverse blocking mode, called the OFF state of the SCR.
 If the reverse voltage increased, then at reverse breakdown voltage VBR, an avalanche breakdown
occurs at J1 and J3 and the reverse current increases rapidly PQ.
 The SCR in the reverse blocking mode may therefore be treated as an open switch.
Dynamic / Switching characteristics of SCR:
Switching characteristics are also known as dynamic characteristics or transient characteristics. The time
variations of the voltage across the SCR and the current through it during turn-on and turn-off processes give
these dynamic or switching characteristics.
Switching characteristics during turn-on:
SCR turn-on time is defined as the time during which SCR changes from forward blocking mode to final on-
state. Total turn-on time can be divided into three intervals: Delay time td Rise time tr Spread time tp

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Delay time: Delay time is the time between the instant at which gate current reaches 0.9 Ig to the instant at
which anode current reaches 0.1 Ia. Here Ig and Ia are respectively the final values of gate and anode
currents. (or)
The delay time may also be defined as the time during which anode voltage falls from V a to 0.9 Va, where Va
= initial value of anode voltage. (or)
The time during which anode current rises from forward leakage current to 0.1 Ia, where Ia = final value of
anode current.
Rise time: The time taken by the anode current to rise from 0.1 Ia to 0.9 Ia. (or)
The rise time is also defined as the time required for the forward blocking off-state anode voltage to fall
from 0.9 to 0.1 of its initial value OA.
During rise time, turn on losses in the thyristor are the highest due to high anode voltage and large anode
current occurring together in the thyristor.
Spread time: The time taken by the anode current to rise from 0.9 Ia to Ia. (or)

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It is also defined as the time for the forward blocking voltage to fall from 0.1 of its initial value to the on-
state voltage drop.
Switching characteristics during turn-off:
SCR turns off means that it has changed from ON to OFF state and is capable of blocking the forward voltage.
This dynamic process of the SCR from conduction state to forward blocking state is called commutation
process or turn-off process.
If forward voltage is applied to the SCR at the moment its anode current falls to zero, the device will not be
able to block this forward voltage, as the carriers in the four layers are still favorable for conduction. the
device will therefore go into conduction immediately even though gate signal is not applied. To solve this
problem, it is essential that the thyristor is reverse biased for a finite period after the anode current has
reached zero.
Turn off time tq:
It is defined as time between the instant anode current becomes zero and the instant SCR regains forward
blocking capability.
During this time all the excess carriers from four layers of SCR are removed. The turn off time is divided into
two intervals: Reverse recovery time & Gate recovery time
After t1 anode current builds up in the reverse direction with the same di/dt slope. The reason for the
reversal of anode current is due to the presence of charge carriers stored in four layers.
At instant t3, when reverse recovery current has fallers to nearly zero value, end junctions J 1 and J3 recover
and SCR is able to block the reverse voltage. At the end of reverse recovery period t 3, the middle junction J2
still has charges, therefore the thyristor is not able to block the forward voltage at t3. The charge carriers at
J2 cannot flow to the external circuit therefore they must decay only by recombination. This is possible if a
reverse voltage is maintained across SCR. The time taken for this is called gate recovery time(tgr).
The thyristor turn off time tq is dependent up on magnitude of forward current, di/dt at the time of
commutation and junction temperature.
Circuit turn off time:
 It is defined as the time between the instant anode current becomes zero and the instant reverse
voltage due to practical circuit reaches zero.
 tc > tq for reliable turn off, otherwise the device may turn-on at an undesired instant, a process called
commutation failure.
 Thyristors with slow turn-off time are called converter grade SCR's. Example: phase controlled rectifiers,
cyclo-converters and ac voltage controllers.
 SCR's with fast turn off time are called inverter grade SCR’s. Example: inverters, choppers and forced
commutation converters.

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1.4.2 Two Transistor Model of SCR
Basic operating principle of SCR, can be easily understood by the two transistor model of SCR or analogy of
silicon controlled rectifier, as it is also a combination of P and N layers, shown in figure below.

This is a p-n-p-n thyristor. If we bisect it through the dotted line, then we will get two transistors i.e. one p-n-
p transistor with J1 and J2 junctions and another is n-p-n with J2 and J3 junctions as shown in figure below.

When the transistors are in off state, the relation between the collector current and emitter current is
shown below

Here, IC is collector current, IE is emitter current, ICBO is forward leakage current, α is common base forward
current gain and relationship between IC and IB is

Where, IB is base current and β is common emitter forward current gain.

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Let’s for transistor T1 this relation holds

And that for transistor T2

Now, by the analysis of two transistors model we can get anode current,

From equation (i) and (ii), We get,

If applied gate current is Ig then cathode current will be the summation of anode current and gate current
i.e.

By substituting this value of Ik in (iii) we get,

From this relation we can assure that with increasing the value of towards unity, corresponding
anode current will increase, which can be explained as the process of gate triggering.

Gate triggering: When we apply a gate current Ig, it acts as base current of T2 transistor i.e. IB2 = Ig and
emitter current i.e. Ik = Ig of the T2 transistor. Hence establishment of the emitter current gives rise α2 as

Presence of base current will generate collector current as

This IC2 is nothing but base current IB1 of transistor T1, which will cause the flow of collector current,

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IC1 and IB1 lead to increase IC1 as

and hence, α1 increases. Now, new base current of T2 is

which will lead to increase emitter current

and as a result α2 also increases and this further increases

As IB1=IC2, α1 again increases. This continuous positive feedback effect or regenerative action continues and
until increment in α1+ α2 towards unity and anode current tends to flow at a very large value even though
gate signal is removed. It means once the SCR is triggered with gate signal, it(gate) loses the control over the
device. The value current then can only be controlled by external resistance of the circuit. Once the four
layers are filled with moving charge carriers and all the junctions are forward biased. Under these conditions,
thyristor has very low impedance and is in the forward on state.

1.4.3 Series and Parallel Connection of SCR or Thyristor

Nowadays, SCRs are available of ratings up to 10 KV and 3 KA. But sometimes we face demand, more than
these ratings. In this case combination of more than one SCR is used. Series connection of SCRs meets high
voltage demand and parallel connection of SCRs meets high current demand. These series and parallel
connection of SCR or Thyristor will work efficiently if all SCRs are fully utilized. Although all SCRs in a string
are of same rating, their V-I characteristics differ from one another. This leads to unequal voltage or current
division among them. Hence every SCR is not fully utilized. So the efficiency of string is always less than 100%
according to the given expression
Actual voltage or current rating of the whole string
String efficiency =
[Individual voltage or current rating of one SCR]∗[Number of SCRs in the string]

With increase in the numbers of SCRs in a string voltage or current handled by each SCR is minimized.
This phenomenon increases the reliability of the string, but reduces the utilization of each SCR. Thus string
efficiency decreases. Reliability of string is measured by derating factor (DRF) which is given by the
expression

Series Operation of SCR:

When the operating voltage is more than the rating of one SCR, then multiple SCRs of same ratings are used
in series. As we know SCR’s having same rating, may have different I-V characteristic, so unequal voltage
division is bound to take place.

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For example, if two SCRs in series that is capable of blocking 5 KV individually, then the string should block
10 KV. But practically this does not happen. This can be verified with the help of an example. Let the
characteristics of two SCRs are as shown in fig. 1.

So we can see from the diagram, for same leakage current, unequal voltage division takes place. Voltage
across SCR1 is V1 but that across SCR2 is V2. V2 is much less than V1. So, SCR2 is not fully utilized. Hence the
string can block V1 + V2 = 8 KV, rather than 10 KV and the string efficiency is given by = 80%.
To improve the efficiency a resistor in parallel with every SCR is used. The value of these resistances are such
that the equivalent resistance of each SCR and resistor pair will be same. Hence this will ensure equal
voltage division across each SCR. But in practical different rating of resistor is very difficult to use. So we
chose one value of resistance to get optimum result which is given by

Where, n = no. of SCRs in the string

Vbm = Voltage blocked by the SCR having minimum leakage current.
ΔIb = Difference between maximum and minimum leakage current flowing through SCRs.
Vs = Voltage across the string.
This resistance R (or R1) is called static equalizing circuit. But this resistance is not enough to equalize the
voltage division during turn on and turn off. In these transient conditions, to maintain the equal voltage
across each device a capacitor is used along with resistor in parallel with every SCR. This is nothing but
snubber circuit which also known as dynamic equalizing circuit. An additional diode can also be used to
improve the performance of dynamic equalizing circuit.

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Parallel Operation of SCR
When the operating current is more than the individual current ratings of SCRs then we use more than one
SCRs in parallel. For equal sharing of currents, I-V characteristics of SCRs during forward conduction must be
identical as far as possible. Due to different V-I characteristics SCRs (Practical consideration) of same rating
shares unequal current in a string.
(i) Simultaneous turn-on: For proper operation of these parallel connected SCRs, they should get turned
on at the same moment. We can understand this with the help of following discussion. Consider n
parallel connected SCRs. For satisfactory operation of these SCRs, they should get turned on at the
same time. Consider that SCR1 has large turn-on time whereas the remaining (n-1) SCRs have low turn-
on time. Under this assumption, (n-1) SCRs will turn on first but one SCR1 with longer turn-on time is
to remain off. The voltage drops across (n-1) SCRs falls to a low value and SCR1 is now subjected to this
low voltage. If the voltage across SCR1 goes below finger voltage, then this SCR will not turn on. So the
remaining (n-1) SCRs will have to share the entire load current. Consequently, these SCRs may be
overloaded and damaged because of heating caused by overcurrent. (Note: For a given gate drive
power, the anode to cathode must have some minimum forward voltage for a thyristor to turn-on. This
particular voltage is known as finger voltage.)
(ii) Same temperature rise: Every SCR should have same temperature rise, otherwise the SCR with high
higher temperature rise would gat damaged and remaining SCRs experience over load. This can be
achieved by mounting heat sink on the parallel unit.
(iii) Symmetrical Arrangement: This can be achieved by mounting the parallel unit on one common heat
sink. The unequal current distribution in a parallel unit is also caused by the inductive effect of current
carrying conductors. When SCRs are arranged unsymmetrical manner, the middle conductor will have
more inductance because of more flux linkages from two nearby conductors. The result is less current
flows through the middle SCR as compared to outer two SCRs. The unequal current distribution can be
avoided by mounting the SCRs symmetrically on the heat sink. In AC circuits current distribution can
be made more uniform by the magnetic coupling of the parallel paths.

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 (iv) Uniform current sharing: This is achieved by suitable external resistances in series with SCRs as shown
below, such that they are (external resistors) selected to provide equal resistance across each parallel
path.

(v) Mid-point reactor: It is also provided for equal sharing od current, achieved by the nature of
inductance.

1.4.4 SCR Specifications and Ratings:

The main specifications of the SCR are its voltage rating and current rating. In this post, let us see various
ratings of thyristor.
Voltage Rating:
Peak Inverse Voltage (VPIV)
The peak inverse voltage is defined as the maximum voltage which SCR can safely withstand in its OFF state.
The applied voltage should never be exceeded under any circumstances.
On State Voltage:

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The voltage which appears across the SCR during its ON state is known as its ON state Voltage. The
maximum value of voltage which can appear across the SCR during its conducting state is called its maximum
on state voltage. Usually it will be 1V to 4V.
Finger Voltage: The minimum voltage, which is required between the anode and cathode of an SCR to
trigger it to conduction mode, is called its finger voltage.
Rate of Rise of Voltage (dV/dt)
The rate at which the voltage across the device rises ( for forward condition) without triggering the device, is
known as its rate of rise of voltage.
Voltage Safety Factor:
The normal operating voltage of the SCR is kept well below its peak inverse voltage(VPIV) to avoid puncture of
SCR due to uncertain conditions. The operating voltage and peak inverse voltage are related by voltage
safety factor Vf
Vf = Peak inverse voltage / ( 2 x RMS value of input voltage)
Normally, Vf value lies between 2 and 2.5
Current Rating:
The current carrying capacity of the device is known as its current rating.
It can be of two types.
1. Continuous
2. Intermittent.
Maximum average ON state current ( Imac):
This is the average value of maximum continuous sinusoidal ON state current with conduction angle 180deg,
at frequency 40 to 60Hz, which should not be exceeded even with intensive cooling.
Maximum rms ON-state current: (Imrc)
It is the rms value of the maximum continuous sinusoidal ON state current at the frequency 40 to 60 Hz and
conduction angle 180deg, which should not be exceeded even with intensive cooling.
Maximum surge - ON state Current (Imsc)
It is the maximum admissible peak value of a sinusoidal half cycle of tem milliseconds duration at a
frequency of 50Hz.
Latching Current (II)
It is the minimum current, which is required to latch the device from its OFF state to its ON state. In other
words, it is the minimum current required to trigger the device.
Holding Current (IH)
It is the minimum current required to hold the SCR conducting. In other words, It is the minimum current,
below which the device stops conducting and returns to its OFF state.
Gate Current:
The current which is applied to the gate of the device for control purposes is known as gate current.
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Minimum Gate Current:
The minimum current required at the gate for triggering the device.
Maximum Gate Current:
The maximum current which can be applied to device safely. Current higher than this will damage the gate
terminal.
Gate Power Loss:
The mean power loss, which occurs due to flow of gate current between the gate and the main terminals.
Turn ON time:
The time taken by the device before getting latched from its OFF state to ON state. In other words, it is the
time for which the device waits before achieving its full conduction. Usually it will be 150 to 200μsec.
Turn OFF time:
After applying reverse voltage, the device takes a finite time to get switched OFF. This time is called as turn-
off time of the device. Usually it will be 200μsec.
Rate of rise of current(di/dt)
The rate at which the current flowing in the device rises is known as its rate of rise (di/dt) of current.
1.4.5 Turn on methods of SCR
Triggering means turning ON of a device from its off state. Turning ON of a thyristor refers to thyristor
triggering. Thyristor is turned on by increasing the anode current flowing through it. The increase in anode
current can be achieved by many ways.
Voltage Thyristor Triggering: - Here the applied forward voltage is gradually increased beyond a point
known as forward break over voltage VBO and gate is kept open. This method is not preferred because during
turn on of thyristor, it is associated with large voltage and large current which results in huge power loss and
device may be damaged.
Thermal Thyristor Triggering: - If the temperature of the thyristor is high, it results in increase in the
electron-hole pairs. Which in turn increase the leakage current α1 and α2 to raise. The regenerative action
tends to increase (α1 + α2) to units and the thyristor may be turned on. This type turn on is not preferred as
it may result in thermal turn away and hence it is avoided.
Light Thyristor Triggering: - These rays of light are allowed to strike the junctions of the thyristor. This results
in increase in number of electron-hole pair and thyristor may be turned on. The light activated SCRs (LASER)
are triggered by using this method.
dv/dt Triggering: - If the rate of rise of anode to cathode voltage is high, the charging current through the
capacitive junction is high enough to turn on the thyristor. A high value of charging current may destroy the
thyristor hence the device must be protected against high dv/dt.
Gate Triggering: - This method of thyristor triggering is widely employed because of ease control over the
thyristor gate triggering of thyristor allows us to turn of the thyristor whenever we wish. Here we apply a
gate signal to the thyristor. Forward biased thyristor will turn on when gate signal is applied to it. Once the
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thyristor starts conducting, the gate loses its control over the device and the thyristor continues to conduct.
This is because of regenerative action that takes place within the thyristor when gate signal is applied.
1.4.6 Protection of SCR
For satisfactory and reliable operation, the specified ratings of an SCR should not be exceeded due to
overload, voltage transients and other abnormal conditions. If the ratings are exceeded, there is a chance of
damage permanently to the SCR. Due to the reverse recovery process during the turn OFF the SCR, the
voltage overshoots occur in the SCR.
Also, during turn ON, switching action produces over voltages in the presence of inductance. In the event of
a short circuit, a large current flows through the SCR which is very larger than the rated current. Therefore,
to avoid the undesirable effects on the SCR due to these abnormal conditions, SCR must be provided with
suitable protection circuits.
Some of the protection techniques employed for an SCR include over voltage protection, over current
protection, dv/dt protection and di/dt protection. Also, to operate the SCR in permissible temperature limits,
heat produced at the junctions must be dissipated. This can be accomplished by using heat sinks. Let us
discuss in brief on these protection methods.

Over Voltage protection: Over voltages are the greatest causes of failure of SCRs. These transient over
voltages often lead to unscheduled turn ON of the SCR. Also, may lead to the permanent destruction of the
SCR if the reverse transient voltage is more than the VBR across the SCR. There are several causes of
appearing these over voltages like commutation, chopping, lightening, etc. Depends on these sources, over
voltages are divided into two types internal and external over voltages.

Internal Over Voltages: Internal over voltages arise while the SCR is in operation. During the turn OFF of an
SCR, a reverse current continues to flow through the SCR after the anode current decreased to zero to
sweep away the earlier stored charge. This reverse current decay at a faster rate at the end of reverse
recover interval. Due to the inductance of the circuit, this high di/dt produces a high voltage. This voltage
value may be much higher than the rated value of the SCR and hence the SCR may be damaged.

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External Over Voltages: These voltages are arising from the supply source or load. Some of these are; If SCRs
are in blocking mode in a converter circuit which is supplied with transformer, a small magnetizing current
flow through the primary of the transformer. If the primary side switch is suddenly removed, a high voltage
transient is produced in the secondary of the transformer and hence it is applied across the SCR. This voltage
is several times that of the break over voltage of the SCR. Lightning surges on the HVDC systems to which
SCR converters are connected causes a very high magnitude of over voltages. If the SCR converter circuit is
connected to a high inductive load, the sudden interruption of current generates a high voltage across the
SCRs.
If the switches are provided on DC side, a sudden operation of these switches produces arc voltages. This
also gives rise the over voltage across the SCR.
Protection Against Over voltages: To protect the SCR against the transient over voltages, a parallel R-C
snubber network is provided for each SCR in a converter circuit. This snubber network protects the SCR
against internal over voltages that are caused during the reverse recovery process. After the SCR is turned
OFF or commutated, the reverse recover current is diverted to the snubber circuit which consists of energy
storing elements.
The lightning and switching surges at the input side may damage the converter or the transformer. And the
effect of these voltages is minimized by using voltage clamping devices across the SCR. Therefore, voltage
clamping devices like metal oxide varistors, selenium thyrector diodes and avalanche diode suppressors are
most commonly employed. These devices have falling resistance characteristics with an increase in voltage.
Therefore, these devices provide a low resistance path across the SCR when a surge voltage appears across
the device. The figure below shows the protection of SCR against over voltages using thyrector diode and
snubber network.
Overcurrent
During the short circuit conditions, over current flows through the SCR. These short circuits are either
internal or external. The internal short circuits are caused by the reasons like failure of SCRs to block forward
or reverse voltages, misalignment of firing pulses, short circuit of converter output terminals due to fault in
connecting cables or the load, etc. The external short circuits are caused by sustained overloads and short
circuit in the load.
In the event of a short circuit, the fault current depends on the source impedance. If the source impedance is
sufficient during the short circuit, then the fault current is limited below the multi-cycle surge rating of the
SCR. In case of AC circuits, the fault occurs at the instant of peak voltages if the source resistance is
neglected.
In case of DC circuits, fault current is limited by the source resistance. Therefore, the fault current is very
large if the source impedance is very low. The rapid rise of this current increase the junction temperature
and hence the SCR may get damaged. Hence the fault must be cleared before occurrence of its first peak in
other words fault current must be interrupted before the current zero position.
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Protection Against Overcurrent: The SCRs can be protected against the over currents using conventional
over current protection devices like ordinary fuses (HRC fuse, rewirable fuse, semiconductor fuse, etc,),
contractors, relays and circuit breakers. Generally, for continuous overloads and surge currents of long
duration, a circuit breaker is employed to protect the SCR due to its long tripping time.
For an effective tripping of the circuit breaker, tripping time must be properly coordinated with SCR rating.
Also, the large surge currents with short duration (are also called as sub-cycle surge currents) are limited by
connecting the fast acting fuse in series with an SCR.
So the proper coordination of fusing time and the sub-cycle rating must be selected for a reliable protection
against over currents. Therefore, the proper coordination of fuse and circuit breaker is essential with the
rating of the SCR.
di/dt Protection of SCR:
The anode current starts flowing through the SCR when it is turned ON by the application of gate signal. This
anode current takes some finite time to spread across the junctions of an SCR. For a good working of SCR,
this current must spread uniformly over the surface of the junction.
If the rate of rise of anode current (di/dt) is high results a non-uniform spreading of current over the
junction. Due to the high current density, this further leads to form local hot spots near the gate-cathode
junction. This effect may damage the SCR due to overheating. Hence, during turn ON process of SCR, the
di/dt must be kept below the specified limits.
To prevent the high rate of change of current, an inductor is connected in series with thyristor. Typical SCR
di/dt ratings are in range between 20- 500 ampere per microseconds.
dv/dt Protection of SCR:
When the SCR is forward biased, junctions J1 and J3 forward biased and junction J2 is reverse biased. This
reverse biased junction J2 exhibits the characteristics of a capacitor. Therefore, if the rate of forward voltage
applied is very high across the SCR, charging current flows through the junction J2 is high enough to turn ON
the SCR even without any gate signal.
This is called as dv/dt triggering of the SCR which is generally not employed as it is false triggering process.
Hence, the rate of rise of anode to cathode voltage, dv/dt must be in specified limit to protect the SCR
against false triggering. This can be achieved by using RC snubber network across the SCR.
Working of Snubber Circuit
As we discussed above, the protection against high voltage reverse recovery transients and dv/dt is achieved
by using an RC snubber circuit. This snubber circuit consists of a series combination of capacitor and resistor
which is connected across the SCR. This also consist an inductance in series with the SCR to prevent the high
di/dt. The resistance value is of few hundred ohms. The snubber network used for the protection of SCR is
shown below.

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When the switch closed, a sudden voltage appears across the SCR which is bypassed to the RC network. This
is because the capacitor acts as a short circuit which reduces the voltage across the SCR to zero. As the time
increases, voltage across the capacitor builds up at slow rate such that dv/dt across the capacitor is too small
to turn ON the SCR. Therefore, the dv/dt across the SCR and the capacitor is less than the maximum dv/dt
rating of the SCR.
Normally, the capacitor is charged to a voltage equal the maximum supply voltage which is the forward
blocking voltage of the SCR. If the SCR is turned ON, the capacitor starts discharging which causes a high
current to flow through the SCR.
This produces a high di/dt that leads to damage the SCR. And hence, to limit the high di/dt and peak
discharge current, a small resistance is placed in series with the capacitor as shown in above. These snubber
circuits can also be connected to any switching circuit to limit the high surge or transient voltages.

Other thyristor devices

1.5 TRIAC

The TRIAC is another three-terminal ac switch that is triggered into conduction when a low-energy signal is
applied to its gate terminal. Unlike the SCR, the TRIAC conducts in either direction when turned on. The

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TRIAC also differs from the SCR in that either a positive or negative gate signal triggers it into conduction.
Thus the TRIAC is a three terminal, four-layer bidirectional semiconductor device that controls ac power
whereas an SCR controls dc power or forward biased half cycles of ac in a load. Because of its bidirectional
conduc-tion property, the TRIAC is widely used in the field of power electronics for control purposes.
“TRIAC” is an abbreviation for three terminal ac switch. ‘Tri’-indicates that the device has three terminals
and ‘ac’ indicates that the device controls alternating current or can conduct in either direction.

Construction of a TRIAC
As mentioned above, TRIAC is a three terminal, four-layer bilateral semiconductor device. It incorporates
two SCRs connected in inverse parallel with a common gate terminal in a single chip device. The
arrangement of the TRIAC is shown in figure(above). As seen, it has six doped regions. The gate terminal G
makes ohmic contacts with both the N and P materials. This permits trigger pulse of either polarity to start
conduction. Since the TRIAC is a bilateral device, the term “anode” and “cathode” has no meaning, and
therefore, terminals are designated as main terminal 1 (MT1), main terminal 2 (MT2) and gate G. To avoid
confusion, it has become common practice to specify all voltages and currents using MT1 as the reference.

Operation and Working of a TRIAC

Though the TRIAC can be turned on without any gate current provided the supply voltage becomes equal to
the break over voltage of the TRIAC but the normal way to turn on the TRIAC is by applying a proper gate
current. As in case of SCR, here too, the larger the gate current, the smaller the supply voltage at which the
TRIAC is turned on. TRIAC can conduct current irrespective of the voltage polarity of terminals MT1 and MT2
with respect to each other and that of gate and terminal MT2. Consequently, four different possibilities of
operation of TRIAC exists. They are:

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1. Terminal MT2 and gate are positive with respect to terminal MT1: When terminal MT2 is positive with
respect to terminal MT1 current flows through path P1-N1-P2-N2. The two junctions P1-N1 and P2-N2 are
forward biased whereas junction N1 P2 is blocked. The TRIAC is now said to be positively biased.
A positive gate with respect to terminal MT1 forward biases the junction P2-N2 and the break-down occurs
as in a normal SCR.
2. Terminal MT2 is positive but gate is negative with respect to terminal MT1: Though the flow path of
current remains the same as in mode 1 but now junction P2-N3 is forward biased and current carriers
injected into P2 turn on the TRIAC.
3.Terminal MT2 and gate are negative with respect to terminal MT1: When terminal MT2 is negative with
respect to terminal MT1, the current flow path is P2-N1-P1-N4. The two junctions P2-N1 and P1 – N4 are
forward biased whereas junction N1-P1 is blocked. The TRIAC is now said to be negatively biased.
A negative gate with respect to terminal MT1 injects current carriers by forward biasing junc-tion P2-N3 and
thus initiates the conduction.
4. Terminal MT2 is negative but gate is positive with respect to terminal MT1: Though the flow path of
current remains the same as in mode 3 but now junction P2-N2 is forward biased, current carriers are
injected and therefore, the TRIAC is turned on.
Generally, trigger mode 4 should be avoided especially in circuits where high di/dt may occur. The sensitivity
of triggering modes 2 and 3 is high and in case of marginal triggering capability negative gate pulses should
be used. Though the triggering mode 1 is more sensitive compared to modes 2 and 3, it requires a positive
gate trigger. However, for bidirectional control and uniform gate trigger modes 2 and 3 are preferred.

1.6 GATE TURN OFF THYRISTOR (GTO)

A GTO is pnpn device that can be turned on by a positive gate current and turned off by negative gate current at irs
gate-cathode terminals.
Self turnoff capabibilty of GTO makes it most suitable for inverter and chopper applications.
Basic structure:

 The four layesr are p+ n p+ n+ as shown.

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  Anode is made up of n+ type fingers diffused into p+ layer.
 The four layes have different doping layers.

 Transistor Q1 is p+ n p+ type and Transistor Q2 is n p+ n+ type, with p+ emitter of Q1 as anode A and n+ of the Q2
as cathode K.
Turn on process:
 A GTO is turned on by applying a positive gate current Ig .
 As GTO is forward biased , regenration process starts as in conventional thyristor.
 Current gains α1 , α2 begin to rise and when α1 + α2 = 1, saturation level is reached and GTo is turned on. The
anode current is then limited by load impedance.
Turn off process:
 For initiating the turn off process in a GTO a negative gate current Ig’ applied across gate cathode terminals.

 The turn off gain is defined as the ratio of anode current Ia to gate current Ig’ need to turn off the GTO is given
by

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  In order that gate current Ig’ for turning of GTO is low, α2 should be made as near to unity as possible where
as α1 should be made small.
Static VI characteristics of GTO: Static V-I characteristics of GTO is idential with that of a conventional thyristor (SCR).
Advantage of GTO over SCR:
1. GTO has faster switching speed.
2. Its surge current capability is comparable with an SCR
3. It has more di/dt rating at turn on.
4. GTO circuit configuration has lower size and weight as compared to thyristor circuit unit.
5. GTO has higher efficiency
6. GTO units has reduced acoustical and electromagnetic noise due to elimination of commutation
chokes.
Disadvantage of GTO over SCR:
1. Magnitude of latching current and holding current is more in GTO.
2. On-state voltage drop and associated loss is more in GTO.
3. Triggering gate current is higher than that of a conventional thyristor.
4. Gate drive circuit losses are more
5. Its reverse blocking capacity is lessthan forward voltage blocking capacity.
Applications of GTO:
1. Higher performance drive systems, such as field- oriented control scheme used in rolling mills, robotics and
machine tools.
2. Traction purposes because of their lighter weight.
3. Adjustable frequnecy inverter drives.