EEE312 Power Electronics
Lecture 4:
Power
Transistors
(Part II)
Dr. Jilan Samiuddin
Assistant Professor
North South University
Credit: Power Electronics: Circuits, Devices and Applications (3rd Edition), Muhammad H. Rashid
Field-Effect Transistors (FET)
• FET is a transistor, unlike BJT, that relies on an electric field to
control the conductivity of a “channel” in a semiconductor material.
• It is a voltage-controlled switch unlike BJT which is a current-
controlled switch
• Several types of FET including:
1. JFET (Junction Field-Effect Transistors) uses a p-n junction as the
gate
2. MOSFET (Metal oxide silicon field-effect transistor) utilizes an
insulator in its gate
3. MESFET (Metal semiconductor field-effect transistor) substitutes
the pn junction in JFET with a Schottky barrier (e.g., GaAs) 2
Metal oxide silicon field-effect
transistor (MOSFET)
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Introduction
• A power MOSFET is a voltage-controlled device and requires only a small
input current
• The switching speed is very high and the switching times are of the order of
nanoseconds
• It is relatively difficult to protect them under short-circuited fault
conditions
• The two types of MOSFETs are:
(1) depletion MOSFETs, and,
(2) enhancement MOSFETs
• Unlike depletion type MOSFETs, which remain on at zero gate voltage,
enhancement type MOSFETs remain off at zero gate voltage
• Enhancement-type MOSFETS are generally used as switching devices in
power electronics
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n-channel depletion-type MOSFET
• An n-channel depletion-type MOSFET is formed on a p-type
silicon substrate with two heavily doped n+ silicon sections
for low resistance
• The gate is isolated from the channel by a thin oxide layer
• The three terminals are called gate, drain, and source
• If 𝑉𝐺𝑆 < 0, electrons in the n-channel area are repelled and
holes in the p-substrate are attracted. As a result,
recombination of these two occurs causing a depletion of
free electrons. This depletion region is created below the
oxide layer, resulting in a narrower effective channel and a
high resistance from the drain to source 𝑅𝐷𝑆
• If 𝑉𝐺𝑆 is made negative enough to reach pinch-off voltage
𝑉𝑃 , the channel becomes completely depleted, offering a
high value of 𝑅𝐷𝑆 , and no current flows from the drain to
source, 𝐼𝐷𝑆 = 0
• On increasing 𝑉𝐺𝑆 > 0, electrons from the p-substrate are
attracted towards the channel for it to become wider
reducing 𝑅𝐷𝑆 , and 𝐼𝐷𝑆 increases until saturation is reached 5
p-channel depletion-type MOSFET
• With a p-channel depletion-type MOSFET, the
polarities of 𝑉𝐷𝑆 , 𝐼𝐷𝑆 , and 𝑉𝐺𝑆 are reversed
• If 𝑉𝐺𝑆 > 0, holes in the p-channel area are repelled
and electrons in the n-substrate are attracted. As a
result, recombination of these two occurs causing a
depletion of free holes. This depletion region is
created below the oxide layer, resulting in a narrower
effective channel and a high resistance from the drain
to source 𝑅𝐷𝑆
• If 𝑉𝐺𝑆 is made positive enough to reach pinch-off
voltage 𝑉𝑃 , the channel becomes completely
depleted, offering a high value of 𝑅𝐷𝑆 , and no current
flows from the drain to source, 𝐼𝐷𝑆 = 0
• On decreasing 𝑉𝐺𝑆 < 0, holes from the n-substrate
are attracted towards the channel for it to become
wider reducing 𝑅𝐷𝑆 , and 𝐼𝐷𝑆 increases until saturation
is reached 6
Comparison: Depletion-type
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n-channel enhancement-type MOSFET
• An n-channel enhancement-type MOSFET has
no physical channel
• If 𝑉𝐺𝑆 > 0 , an induced voltage attracts the
electrons from the p-substrate and
accumulates them at the surface beneath the
oxide layer
• If 𝑉𝐺𝑆 > 𝑉𝑇 (threshold voltage), a sufficient
number of electrons are accumulated to form a
virtual n-channel and the current 𝐼𝐷𝑆 flows from
drain to source
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p-channel enhancement-type MOSFET
• A p-channel enhancement-type MOSFET has no
physical channel as well
• The polarities of 𝑉𝐷𝑆 , 𝐼𝐷𝑆 , and 𝑉𝐺𝑆 are reversed
for a p-channel enhancement-type MOSFET
• If 𝑉𝐺𝑆 < 0, an induced voltage attracts the holes
from the n-substrate and accumulates them at
the surface beneath the oxide layer
• If 𝑉𝐺𝑆 < 𝑉𝑇 (negative), a sufficient number of
holes are accumulated to form a virtual p-
channel and the current 𝐼𝐷𝑆 flows from source
to drain
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Comparison: Enhancement-type
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Transfer Characteristics
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Output Characteristics: n-channel
• There are three regions of operation
1. Cutoff region:
• 𝑉𝐺𝑆 ≤ 𝑉𝑇 , 𝐼𝐷 ≈ 0 =+8V
• Acts as an open switch
=+7V
2. Linear/Ohmic region:
• 𝑉𝐺𝑆 > 𝑉𝑇 , 𝑉𝐷𝑆 ≤ 𝑉𝐺𝑆 − 𝑉𝑇
=+6V
• Channel is formed
• 𝐼𝐷 increases linearly with 𝑉𝐷𝑆
=+5V
• Acts as a closed switch or voltage-
controlled resistor
=+4V
3. Pinch-off or saturation region:
• 𝑉𝐺𝑆 > 𝑉𝑇 , 𝑉𝐷𝑆 ≥ 𝑉𝐺𝑆 − 𝑉𝑇
• Channel pinches off near the drain end
• 𝐼𝐷 becomes constant and depends only on
𝑉𝐺𝑆 , and not 𝑉𝐷𝑆 anymore
• Used for amplification
n-channel
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Comparison between regions: n-channel
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Output Characteristics: p-channel
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Switching Characteristics - ON
1. Turn-on delay 𝑡𝑑(𝑜𝑛) is the time that is
required to charge the input capacitance
𝐶𝑔𝑠 to 𝑉𝑇 , i.e., this phase ends when 𝑉𝐺𝑆 =
𝑉𝑇
2. When 𝑉𝐺𝑆 > 𝑉𝑇 , the channel starts
forming and 𝐶𝑔𝑠 continues charging
3. Rise time 𝑡𝑟 is the gate-charging time
from the threshold level to the full-gate
voltage which is required to drive the
transistor into the linear region
4. Miller Plateau is reached with 𝐶𝑔𝑠 fully
charged, and 𝐼𝐷 reaches its peak as well
determined by the load. Gate current is
now diverted to charge 𝐶𝑔𝑑 instead
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Switching Characteristics - OFF
1. Turn-off delay 𝑡𝑑(𝑜𝑓𝑓) is the time
required for 𝐶𝑔𝑠 to discharge
2. Fall time 𝑡𝑓 is the time that is required
for 𝐶𝑔𝑑
3. 𝑉𝐺𝑆 falls below 𝑉𝑇 and the channels
disappears
4. Purpose of 𝐶𝑑𝑠 :
• During turn-off, when current suddenly
stops, inductive loads (motors, solenoids) try
to maintain current creating huge voltage
spikes
• Reduces EMI (Electrical Noise) by opposing
rapid change in voltage
• During turn-on from turn-off, 𝐶𝑑𝑠 must
discharge also adding to the delay (tiny)
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Switching using MOSFET
Different MOSFETs to switch a simple lamp “ON” and “OFF”
• The input voltage 𝑉𝐺𝑆 is adjusted to an appropriate voltage to switch “ON”
or turn “OFF” the device
Credit: byjus.com
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MOSFET vs BJT
Credit: byjus.com
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