We said previously that in order to get the Thyristor to turn-“ON” we need to inject a small trigger pulse

of current (not a continuous current) into the Gate, (G) terminal when the thyristor is in its forward
direction, that is the Anode, (A) is positive with respect to the Cathode, (K), for regenerative latching to
occur.

silicon controlled rectifier

Generally, this trigger pulse need only be of a few micro-seconds in duration but the longer the Gate
pulse is applied the faster the internal avalanche breakdown occurs and the faster the turn-“ON” time of
the thyristor, but the maximum Gate current must not be exceeded. Once triggered and fully conducting,
the voltage drop across the thyristor, Anode to Cathode, is reasonably constant at about 1.0V for all
values of Anode current up to its rated value.

But remember though that once a Thyristor star

ts to conduct it continues to conduct even with no Gate signal, until the Anode current decreases below
the devices holding current, (IH) and below this value it automatically turns-“OFF”. Then unlike bipolar
transistors and FET’s, thyristors cannot be used for amplification or controlled switching.

Thyristors are semiconductor devices that are specifically designed for use in high-power switching
applications. Thyristors can operate only in the switching mode, where they act like either an open or
closed switch and once triggered it will remain conducting. Therefore in DC circuits and some highly
inductive AC circuits the current has to be artificially reduced by a separate switch or turn off circuit.

DC Thyristor Circuit

When connected to a direct current DC supply, the thyristor can be used as a DC switch to control larger
DC currents and loads. When using the Thyristor as a switch it behaves like an electronic latch because
once activated it remains in the “ON” state until manually reset. Consider the DC thyristor circuit below.

DC Thyristor Switching Circuit

thyristor as a switch
This simple “on-off” thyristor firing circuit uses the thyristor as a switch to control a lamp, but it could
also be used as an on-off control circuit for a motor, heater or some other such DC load. The thyristor is
forward biased and is triggered into conduction by briefly closing the normally-open “ON” push button,
S1 which connects the Gate terminal to the DC supply via the Gate resistor, RG thus allowing current to
flow into the Gate. If the value of RG is set too high with respect to the supply voltage, the thyristor may
not trigger.

Once the circuit has been turned-“ON”, it self latches and stays “ON” even when the push button is
released providing the load current is more than the thyristors latching current. Additional operations of
push button, S1 will have no effect on the circuits state as once “latched” the Gate looses all control. The
thyristor is now turned fully “ON” (conducting) allowing full load circuit current to flow through the
device in the forward direction and back to the battery supply.

One of the main advantages of using a thyristor as a switch in a DC circuit is that it has a very high
current gain. The thyristor is a current operated device because a small Gate current can control a much
larger Anode current.

The Gate-cathode resistor RGK is generally included to reduce the Gate’s sensitivity and increase its
dv/dt capability thus preventing false triggering of the device.

As the thyristor has self latched into the “ON” state, the circuit can only be reset by interrupting the
power supply and reducing the Anode current to below the thyristors minimum holding current (IH)
value.

Opening the normally-closed “OFF” push button, S2 breaks the circuit, reducing the circuit current
flowing through the Thyristor to zero, thus forcing it to turn “OFF” until the application again of another
Gate signal.

However, one of the disadvantages of this DC thyristor circuit design is that the mechanical normally-
closed “OFF” switch S2 needs to be big enough to handle the circuit power flowing through both the
thyristor and the lamp when the contacts are opened. If this is the case we could just replace the
thyristor with a large mechanical switch. One way to overcome this problem and reduce the need for a
larger more robust “OFF” switch is to connect the switch in parallel with the thyristor as shown.
Here the thyristor switch receives the required terminal voltage and Gate pulse signal as before but the
larger normally-closed switch of the previous circuit has be replaced by a smaller normally-open switch
in parallel with the thyristor. Activation of switch S2 momentarily applies a short circuit between the
thyristors Anode and Cathode stopping the device from conducting by reducing the holding current to
below its minimum value.

AC Thyristor Circuit

When connected to an alternating current AC supply, the thyristor behaves differently from the previous
DC connected circuit. This is because AC power reverses polarity periodically and therefore any thyristor
used in an AC circuit will automatically be reverse-biased causing it to turn-“OFF” during one-half of each
cycle. Consider the AC thyristor circuit below.

AC Thyristor Circuit

thyristor circuit

The above thyristor firing circuit is similar in design to the DC SCR circuit except for the omission of an
additional “OFF” switch and the inclusion of diode D1 which prevents reverse bias being applied to the
Gate. During the positive half-cycle of the sinusoidal waveform, the device is forward biased but with
switch S1 open, zero gate current is applied to the thyristor and it remains “OFF”. On the negative half-
cycle, the device is reverse biased and will remain “OFF” regardless of the condition of switch S1.

If switch S1 is closed, at the beginning of each positive half-cycle the thyristor is fully “OFF” but shortly
after there will be sufficient positive trigger voltage and therefore current present at the Gate to turn the
thyristor and the lamp “ON”.

The thyristor is now latched-“ON” for the duration of the positive half-cycle and will automatically turn
“OFF” again when the positive half-cycle ends and the Anode current falls below the holding current
value.

During the next negative half-cycle the device is fully “OFF” anyway until the following positive half-cycle
when the process repeats itself and the thyristor conducts again as long as the switch is closed.
Then in this condition the lamp will receive only half of the available power from the AC source as the
thyristor acts like a rectifying diode, and conducts current only during the positive half-cycles when it is
forward biased. The thyristor continues to supply half power to the lamp until the switch is opened.

If it were possible to rapidly turn switch S1 ON and OFF, so that the thyristor received its Gate signal at
the “peak” (90o) point of each positive half-cycle, the device would only conduct for one half of the
positive half-cycle. In other words, conduction would only take place during one-half of one-half of a sine
wave and this condition would cause the lamp to receive “one-fourth” or a quarter of the total power
available from the AC source.

By accurately varying the timing relationship between the Gate pulse and the positive half-cycle, the
Thyristor could be made to supply any percentage of power desired to the load, between 0% and 50%.
Obviously, using this circuit configuration it cannot supply more than 50% power to the lamp, because it
cannot conduct during the negative half-cycles when it is reverse biased. Consider the circuit below.

Half Wave Phase Control

Phase control is the most common form of thyristor AC power control and a basic AC phase-control
circuit can be constructed as shown above. Here the thyristors Gate voltage is derived from the RC
charging circuit via the trigger diode, D1.

During the positive half-cycle when the thyristor is forward biased, capacitor, C charges up via resistor R1
following the AC supply voltage. The Gate is activated only when the voltage at point A has risen enough
to cause the trigger diode D1, to conduct and the capacitor discharges into the Gate of the thyristor
turning it “ON”. The time duration in the positive half of the cycle at which conduction starts is controlled
by RC time constant set by the variable resistor, R1.

Increasing the value of R1 has the effect of delaying the triggering voltage and current supplied to the
thyristors Gate which in turn causes a lag in the devices conduction time. As a result, the fraction of the
half-cycle over which the device conducts can be controlled between 0 and 180o, which means that the
average power dissipated by the lamp can be adjusted. However, the thyristor is a unidirectional device
so only a maximum of 50% power can be supplied during each positive half-cycle.

There are a variety of ways to achieve 100% full-wave AC control using “thyristors”. One way is to include
a single thyristor within a diode bridge rectifier circuit which converts AC to a unidirectional current
through the thyristor while the more common method is to use two thyristors connected in inverse
parallel. A more practical approach is to use a single Triac as this device can be triggered in both
directions, therefore making them suitable for AC switching applications.

Wikipedia

Gate driver

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A gate driver is a power amplifier that accepts a low-power input from a controller IC and produces a
high-current drive input for the gate of a high-power transistor such as an IGBT or power MOSFET. Gate
drivers can be provided either on-chip or as a discrete module. In essence, a gate driver consists of a
level shifter in combination with an amplifier.

Purpose[edit]

In contrast to bipolar transistors, MOSFETs do not require constant power input, as long as they are not
being switched on or off. The isolated gate-electrode of the MOSFET forms a capacitor (gate capacitor),
which must be charged or discharged each time the MOSFET is switched on or off. As a transistor
requires a particular gate voltage in order to switch on, the gate capacitor must be charged to at least
the required gate voltage for the transistor to be switched on. Similarly, to switch the transistor off, this
charge must be dissipated, i.e. the gate capacitor must be discharged.

When a transistor is switched on or off, it does not immediately switch from a non-conducting to a
conducting state; and may transiently support both a high voltage and conduct a high current.
Consequently, when gate current is applied to a transistor to cause it to switch, a certain amount of heat
is generated which can, in some cases, be enough to destroy the transistor. Therefore, it is necessary to
keep the switching time as short as possible, so as to minimize switching loss. Typical switching times are
in the range of microseconds. The switching time of a transistor is inversely proportional to the amount
of current used to charge the gate. Therefore, switching currents are often required in the range of
several hundred milliamperes, or even in the range of amperes. For typical gate voltages of
approximately 10-15V, several watts of power may be required to drive the switch. When large currents
are switched at high frequencies, e.g. in DC-to-DC converters of large electric motors, multiple transistors
are sometimes provided in parallel, so as to provide sufficiently high switching currents and switching
power.

The switching signal for a transistor is usually generated by a logic circuit or a microcontroller, which
provides an output signal that typically is limited to a few milliamperes of current. Consequently, a
transistor which is directly driven by such a signal would switch very slowly, with correspondingly high
power loss. During switching, the gate capacitor of the transistor may draw current so quickly that it
causes a current overdraw in the logic circuit or microcontroller, causing overheating which leads to
permanent damage or even complete destruction of the chip. To prevent this from happening, a gate
driver is provided between the microcontroller output signal and the power transistor.

Charge pumps are often used in H-Bridges in high side drivers for gate driving the high side n-channel
power MOSFETs and IGBTs. These devices are used because of their good performance, but require a
gate drive voltage a few volts above the power rail. When the centre of a half bridge goes low the
capacitor is charged via a diode, and this charge is used to later drive the gate of the high side FET gate a
few volts above the source or emitter pin's voltage so as to switch it on. This strategy works well
provided the bridge is regularly switched and avoids the complexity of having to run a separate power
supply and permits the more efficient n-channel devices to be used for both high and low switches.

devices to isolate trigger siganal

Optocoupler Tutorial Introduction

We know from our tutorials about Transformers that they not only provide higher or lower voltage
differences between their primary and secondary windings, but they also provide “electrical isolation”
between the higher voltages on the primary side and the lower voltage on the secondary side.

In other words, transformers isolate the primary input voltage from the secondary output voltage using
electromagnetic coupling by means of a magnetic flux circulating within the iron laminated core. But we
can also provide electrical isolation between an input source and an output load using just light by using
a very common and valuable electronic component called an Optocoupler.

typical 4n35 optocoupler

An Optocoupler, also known as an Opto-isolator or Photo-coupler, is an electronic components that

interconnects two separate electrical circuits by means of a light sensitive optical interface.

The basic design of an optocoupler consists of an LED that produces infra-red light and a semiconductor
photo-sensitive device that is used to detect the emitted infra-red beam. Both the LED and photo-
sensitive device are enclosed in a light-tight body or package with metal legs for the electrical
connections as shown.

An optocoupler or opto-isolator consists of a light emitter, the LED and a light sensitive receiver which
can be a single photo-diode, photo-transistor, photo-resistor, photo-SCR, or a photo-TRIAC and the basic
operation of an optocoupler is very simple to understand.

Phototransistor Optocoupler
Assume a photo-transistor device as shown. Current from the source signal passes through the input LED
which emits an infra-red light whose intensity is proportional to the electrical signal.

This emitted light falls upon the base of the photo-transistor, causing it to switch-ON and conduct in a
similar way to a normal bipolar transistor.

The base connection of the photo-transistor can be left open for maximum sensitivity or connected to
ground via a suitable external resistor to control the switching sensitivity making it more stable.

When the current flowing through the LED is interrupted, the infra-red emitted light is cut-off, causing
the photo-transistor to cease conducting. The photo-transistor can be used to switch current in the
output circuit. The spectral response of the LED and the photo-sensitive device are closely matched
being separated by a transparent medium such as glass, plastic or air. Since there is no direct electrical
connection between the input and output of an optocoupler, electrical isolation up to 10kV is achieved.

Optocouplers are available in four general types, each one having an infra-red LED source but with
different photo-sensitive devices. The four optocouplers are called the: Photo-transistor, Photo-
darlington, Photo-SCR and Photo-triac as shown below.

The photo-transistor and photo-darlington devices are mainly for use in DC circuits while the photo-SCR
and photo-triac allow AC powered circuits to be controlled. There are many other kinds of source-sensor
combinations, such as LED-photodiode, LED-LASER, lamp-photoresistor pairs, reflective and slotted
optocouplers.

Simple homemade optocouplers can be constructed by using individual components. An Led and a
photo-transistor are inserted into a rigid plastic tube or encased in heat-shrinkable tubing as shown. The
advantage of this home-made optocoupler is that tubing can be cut to any length you want and even
bent around corners. Obviously, tubing with a reflective inner would be more efficient than dark black
tubing.

Optocoupler Applications

Optocouplers and opto-isolators can be used on their own, or to switch a range of other larger electronic
devices such as transistors and triacs providing the required electrical isolation between a lower voltage
control signal and the higher voltage or current output signal. Common applications for optocouplers
include microprocessor input/output switching, DC and AC power control, PC communications, signal
isolation and power supply regulation which suffer from current ground loops, etc. The electrical signal
being transmitted can be either analogue (linear) or digital (pulses).

In this application, the optocoupler is used to detect the operation of the switch or another type of
digital input signal. This is useful if the switch or signal being detected is within an electrically noisy
environment. The output can be used to operate an external circuit, light or as an input to a PC or
microprocessor.

An Optotransistor DC Switch

As well as detecting DC signals and data, Opto-triac isolators are also available which allow AC powered
equipment and mains lamps to be controlled. Opto-coupled triacs such as the MOC 3020, have voltage
ratings of about 400 volts making them ideal for direct mains connection and a maximum current of
about 100mA. For higher powered loads, the opto-triac may be used to provide the gate pulse to
another larger triac via a current limiting resistor as shown.

Triac Optocoupler Application

This type of optocoupler configuration forms the basis of a very simple solid state relay application which
can be used to control any AC mains powered load such as lamps and motors. Also unlike a thyristor
(SCR), a triac is capable of conducting in both halves of the mains AC cycle with zero-crossing detection
allowing the load to receive full power without the heavy inrush currents when switching inductive
loads.

Optocouplers and Opto-isolators are great electronic devices that allow devices such as power
transistors and triacs to be controlled from a PC’s output port, digital switch or from a low voltage data
signal such as that from a logic gate. The main advantage of opto-couplers is their high electrical
isolation between the input and output terminals allowing relatively small digital signals to control much
large AC voltages, currents and power.

An optocoupler can be used with both DC and AC signals with optocouplers utilizing a SCR (thyristor) or
triac as the photo-detecting device are primarily designed for AC power-control applications. The main
advantage of photo-SCRs and photo-triacs is the complete isolation from any noise or voltage spikes
present on the AC power supply line as well as zero-crossing detection of the sinusoidal waveform which
reduces switching and inrush currents protecting any power semiconductors used from thermal stress
and shock.