Power Electronics Syed Mamnoon Akhter

COURSE DETAILS
Semester : V
Course Title : Power Electronics
Course No. : Appl. Phys. 503
Credit Hours :3+0
Instructor : Syed Mamnoon Akhter
e-mail :[email protected]/ [email protected]
Cell :0321 2190 143

 Definition of Power Electronics, Key characteristics.

 Power electronic devices:
 Power Diode types their ratings and typical applications.
 Thyristors their characteristics, structures, types and applications.
 Power Transistors
 Power MOSFETS,
 MOS controlled Thyristors,

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 IGBT
 AC to DC converters:
 Power Rectifiers
 Single Phase Controlled Rectifiers
 Three Phase Rectifiers
 DC-DC Convertors:
 Boost Converters
 Buck Converters
 Buck-Boost Converters
 Cuk Converters
 DC to AC Convertors:
 Inverters
 AC-AC converters.
 Power Supplies.
 DC and AC Derives. Automotive Applications of Power Electronics.
Books Recommended
1. Muhammad H. Rashid, Power Electronics, 2006, Prentice Hall.
2. Muhammad H. Rashid, Power Electronics Handbook, Editor, 2004, Academic Press.

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Power Electronics Syed Mamnoon Akhter

3. P. T. Krien, Elements of Power Electronics, 2002, Oxford University Press.

4. P. C. Sen, Power Electronics, 2001, Tata McGraw Hill.
5. Ned. Mohan, Power Electronics

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POWER ELECTRONICS:
 Power electronics involves the study of electronic circuits intended to control the flow of electrical energy.
These circuits handle power flow at levels much higher than the individual device ratings.
 Examples are rectifiers, Inverters, DC derives, AC derives etc.
 Power electronics represents a median point at which the topics of energy systems, electronics, and
control converge and combine.

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BLOCK DIAGRAM OF POWER ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT:

KEY Characteristics:
 A power electronic system controls the energy delivered from the source to load.
 This circuit works as a power converter so it has some losses in the form of energy used by converter.
 Lossless components must be preferred in these circuits.
 This circuit must be reliable enough to avoid power failure.

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1. Efficiency:
 A power electronic system consists of switches, Transformers and like capacitors and inductors.

 Mechanical switches are very good for their zero resistance. When switch is ON it zero voltage drop and in
it posses zero current in its OFF state.
 Main problem with mechanical switch is speed and arcing.
 Semi conductor switches are preferred for their high speed.
 Switching devices are selected based on their power handling rating – the product of their voltage and
current ratings –rather than on power dissipation ratings. This is in contrast to other applications of
electronics, in which power dissipation ratings dominate.
 The NTP30N20 is a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) with a drain current rating
of 30 A, a maximum drain source breakdown voltage of 200 V, and rated power dissipation of up to 200W

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under ideal conditions. Without a heat sink, however, the device can handle less than 2.5kWof dissipation.
For power electronics purposes, the power handling rating is 30 A × 200V = 6 kW.
 The IRGPS60B120KD is an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) – a relative of the bipolar transistor that
has been developed specifically for power electronics – rated for 1200V and 120 A. Its power handling
rating is 144 kW. This is sufficient to control an electric or hybrid car.

2. Reliability:
 There are some main issues regarding reliability.
 First of them is to manage device voltage and current. Device voltage and current must be in limits. Any
increase in power dissipation tends to quick failure of device. It is very challenging to keep current and
voltage values in ratting specially in higher power circuits.
 Simplicity is necessary for reliability. Larger the number of devices increases the chance of failure.
 Complex circuits can be made using integration. Many components and their connections are made on a
single chip. So chance of failure decreases to that of a device. Many semiconductor packages include small
bonding wires that can be susceptible to thermal or vibration damage.

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SCOPE AND APPLICATION:

 Switch mode and uninterruptible power supplies.
 Energy conservation

 Process control and factory automation

 Transportation
 Electro-technical
 Utility related Application

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Semiconductor Devices:
1. Power Diode:
 Very simplest device among all power semiconductor devices.

 It is two terminals device. One is anode (A) and other is cathode (K).
 If terminal A experiences a higher potential compared to terminal K, the device is said
to be forward biased and a current called forward current (IF ) will flow through the
device in the direction as shown. This causes a small voltage drop across the device
(<1 V), which in ideal condition is usually ignored. On the contrary, when a diode is
reverse biased, it does not conduct and a practical diode does experience a small
current flowing in the reverse direction called the leakage current.

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 They have 3 types.

1. General Purpose (up to 6000V, 4500A).
2. High speed (Fast recovery) (up to 6000V, 1100A).
3. Shottky diode (Metal semiconductor junction): Low on state voltage, very
fast response (Typically in nanoseconds). (100V, 300A)

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AC diode parameters:
 Forward recovery time, tFR is the time required for the diode voltage to drop to a
particular value after the forward current starts to flow.
 Reverse recovery time, tRR time interval between the application of reverse voltage and
the reverse current dropped to a particular value.

 Parameter ta is the interval between the zero crossing of the diode current to when it
becomes IRR. On the other hand, tb is the time interval from the maximum reverse
recovery current to approximately 0.25 of IRR.

 Diode capacitance, CD is the net diode capacitance including the junction (CJ ) plus
package capacitance(CP ).
CONSTRUCTION:
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POWER TRANSISTOR:

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 Power transistors face some design requirements (i.e. large off state blocking
voltage and large on state current density) as that of a power diode. Therefore, it is
only natural to extend some of the constructional features of power diodes to
power BJT.
 A power BJT has a vertically oriented alternating layers of n type and p type
Semiconductor materials.
 The vertical structure is preferred for power transistors because it maximizes the
cross sectional area through which the on state current flows. Thus, on state
resistance and power loss is minimized.
 In order to maintain a large current gain “β” (and hence reduce base drive current)
the emitter doping density is made several orders of magnitude higher than the
base region.
 The thickness of the base region is also made as small as possible.
In order to block large voltage during “OFF” state a lightly doped “collector drift
region” is introduced between the moderately doped base region and the heavily
doped collector region. The function of this drift region is similar to that in a Power
Diode. However, the doping density donation of the base region being “moderate”
the depletion region does penetrate considerably into the base. Therefore, the
width of the base region in a power transistor cannot be made as small as that in a
signal level transistor. This comparatively larger base width has adverse effect on

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the current gain (β) of a Power transistor which typically varies within 5-20. As will
be discusses later the collector drift region has significant effect on the output
characteristics of a Power BJT. Practical Power transistors have their emitters and
bases interleaved as narrow fingers. This is necessary to prevent “current
crowding” and consequent “second breakdown”.In addition multiple emitter
structure also reduces parasitic ohmic resistance in the base current path.

MOSFET:

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ADVANTAGES:
 Low gate signal power requirement.
 Fast switching speeds because electrons can start to flow from drain to
source as soon as the channel opens.
 The channel depth is proportional to the gate voltage and pinches closed as
soon as the gate voltage is removed, so there is no storage time effect as
occurs in bipolar transistors.

DISADVANTAGES:
The major disadvantages are:
 High resistance channels.
 Channel resistance may be decreased by creating wider channels but this is
costly since it uses up valuable silicon real estate. It also slows down the
switching speed of the device by increasing its gate capacitance.

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POWER MOSFET:
 High Commutation speed
 Used with low voltage. Usually (<200V)

 Four layer structure of alternate p-type and n-type doping.

 It is termed as E MOSFET.
 n+ is heavily doped layer with doping density around 1019cm-3.

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 p type layer in the middle is termed as body and it’s doping density is 1016cm-3.
 n- Layer in the middle is drain drift region and is lightly doped. (Around 1014cm-
3). This region determines the breakdown voltage of MOSFET.
 With no voltage at gate no drain current flows.
 No injection of minority carriers from the gate terminal as it is insulated by a layer
of SiO2.
 Application of small voltage on the gate terminal converts the silicon layer
beneath the gate into n type layer.
 It creates a channel between source and drain and a current flow through this
channel from source to drain.
 Large width of gate maximizes the gain of device.
 Two types of breakdown occur here.
 Breakdown due to gate to source voltage: An application of large gate to source
voltage can permanently break up the device. An electric field between
to can breakdown the junction. If width of said layer is
1000Ao then its ranges from 50 to 100V. Usually it is specified 20V-30V.
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 Maximum allowable drain to source voltage BVDSS is the largest voltage that
MOSFET can hold off without avalanche breakdown of the drain-body pn
junction. Large breakdowns can be achieved using low doping profile at the drift
region. Heavy doping in the body ensures that depletion region will not extend far
enough in the body to avoid reach through.
 LATCH UP: The equivalent circuit for a MOSFET consists of one MOSFET in
parallel with a parasitic BJT (Bipolar Junction Transistor). If the BJT turns ON, it
cannot be turned off since the gate has no control over it. This phenomenon is
known as 'latch-up', which can lead to device destruction. The BJT can be turned
on due to a voltage drop across the p-type body region. To avoid latch-up, the
body and the source are typically short circuited within the device package.

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APPLICATIONS:
 Low voltage motor Control
 Power supplies
 DC to DC convertors.
SAFE OPERATING AREA:
 Breakdown voltage
 maximum drain current
 junction temperature

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VI CHARACTERISTICS:

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Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT):

 Insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) and metal oxide field effect transistor
(MOSFET) technology have progressed so that they are now viable
replacements for the bipolar types.
 The high input impedance of the IGBT is an advantage over the bipolar
counterpart.
 The IGBTs low saturation voltage performance is analogous to bipolar power-
transistor performance.
 The IGBT requires a –5 to 10V gate–emitter voltage transition to ensure
reliable output switching.
 IGBT is a cross between the bipolar and MOSFET transistor, with the output
switching and conduction characteristics of a bipolar transistor, but voltage-
controlled like a MOSFET.
 BJT: <10KHz, 1200V,400A
 MOSFET: several ten KHZ, 1000V,100A
 IGBT: 20KHz, 1700V,4000A

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Internal Structure of IGBT

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 (PT IGBTs have an additional n+ layer as well as will be explained.)

Consequently, operation of an IGBT is very similar to a power MOSFET. A
positive voltage applied from the emitter to gate terminals causes electrons to
be drawn toward the gate terminal
 In the body region. If the gate-emitter voltage is at or above what is called the
threshold voltage, enough electrons are drawn toward the gate to form a
conductive channel across the body region, allowing current to flow from the
collector to the emitter. (To be precise, it allows electrons to flow from the
emitter to the collector.) This flow of electrons draws positive ions, or holes,
from the p-type substrate into the drift region toward the emitter. This leads
to a couple of simplified equivalent circuits for an IGBT ions, or holes, from the

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p-type substrate into the drift region toward the emitter. This leads to a
couple of simplified equivalent circuits for an IGBT.
 A MOSFET is a majority carrier device only. In other words, in an N channel
MOSFET only electrons flow. As mentioned
before, the p-type substrate in an N-
channel IGBT injects holes into the drift
region. Therefore, current flow in an IGBT
is composed of both electrons and holes.
This injection of holes (minority carriers)
significantly reduces the effective resistance
to current flow in the drift region.
 The resulting reduction in on state voltage
is the main advantage of IGBTs over power MOSFETs.

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 BJT have high voltage ratting and low on state conduction losses but
they are slow.
 MOSFET have low voltage ratting and high on state conduction losses
but they are much faster.
 IGBT as result of attempts of BJT and MOSFET in single silicon wafer.
 It is also known as GEMFET, COMFET, IGT, Bipolar MOSFET or
Bipolar MOS transistor.
 These devices have near ideal characteristics for high voltage (> 100V)
medium frequency (< 20 kHZ) applications.
 This device along with the MOSFET (at low voltage high frequency
applications) has the potential to replace the BJT completely.

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BASIC STRUCTURE:

 Its structure is similar to MOSFET.

 There is only one difference that is an additional P layer in the bottom.

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SYMBOL:

EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT:

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VI Characteristics:
 In the forward bias same as BJT but it is voltage operated device rather than
current.
 Junction J2 blocks any voltage when IGBT is off.
 J1 is reverse blocking junction.

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 This region has low breakdown voltage due to heavy doping on both sides.
Therefore IGBT doesn’t have reverse blocking capability.

DEVICE OPERATION:
 When VGS<Vth No inversion layer is formed.hence no current flow through the
device and all voltage drops across Junction J2.

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 Body region is doped heavily as compared with n type drift region therefore
depletion region is extended in drift region.
 If thickness of junction J2 is much thick then it can tolerate much more reverse
voltage but it has more conductivity loss. This design is known as Non punch
through IGBT
 To recover on state losses an additional layer n+ is added makes breakdown
voltage low but also reduces on state losses.
 When VGS>Vth an inversion layer is formed and as a result electrons flow
through this layer.

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LATCH UP IN IGBTs:

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THYRISTORS:
 A thyristor is a solid-state semiconductor device with four layers of
alternating N and P-type material.
 They act as bistable switches, conducting when their gate receives a current
pulse, and continue to conduct while they are forward biased.
 Modern power electronics began with advent of thyristors.
 Some sources define silicon controlled rectifiers and thyristors as
synonymous.
 Other sources define thyristors as a larger set of devices with at least four
layers of alternating N and P-type material, including:
1. Silicon controlled rectifier (SCR)
2. Gate turn-off thyristor (GTO)
3. Triode AC switch (TRIAC)
4. Static Induction Transistor/Thyristor (SIT/SITh)
5. MOS Controlled Thyristor (MCT)

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6. Distributed Buffer - Gate Turn-off Thyristor (DB-GTO)

7. Integrated gate commutated thyristor (IGCT)
 SCR was first commercially made thyristor in 1957.
 It had ability of carrying current of 25A and blocking voltage of 300V.
SILICON CONTROLLED RECTIFIRER SCR:

 SCR is very important member of thyristor family.

 From the construction and operational point of view SCR is a four layer,
three terminals, minority carrier semi-controlled device.
 It can be turned on by a current signal but cannot be turned off without
interrupting the main current.
 It can block voltage in both directions but can conduct current only in one
direction.
 During conduction it offers very low forward voltage drop due to an internal
latch-up mechanism.

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 They have lower switching speed that makes them not useful in high
frequency applications involving a DC circuit.
 They can be used in AC power applications where current naturally goes to
0.
 low conduction loss
 Reverse Blocking Capability
 Very Low power for control
 High power applications (upto 50MW)
BASIC STUCTURE:
 SCR consist of 4 alternate layers of P and N type materials having 3
junctions.
 The thyristor device has three terminals:
1. Anode
2. Cathode
3. Gate

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TWO TRANSISTORS ANALOGY:

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If there is any gate current then

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An alternate explanation:
 An SCR is a type of rectifier, controlled by a logic gate signal.

TWO TRANSISTOR ANALOGY OF SCR

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 The anode is at the emitter of the PNP transistor (T2), and the cathode is at
the emitter of the NPN transistor (T1). The gate is connected to
 Since the anode is the emitter of the PNP, it must have a positive voltage to
operate, and since the cathode is the emitter of the NPN transistor, it must
be negative to operate.
 When a positive pulse is applied to the gate, it will cause collector current Ic
to flow through the NPN transistor (T1). This current will provide bias voltage
to the base of the PNP transistor (T2). When the bias voltage is applied to
the base of the PNP transistor, it will begin to conduct Ic which will replace
the bias voltage on the base that the gate signal originally supplied. This
allows the gate signal to be a pulse,
 which is then removed since the current through the SCR anode to cathode
will flow and replace the base bias on transistor T1.

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 The device starts working by regenerative process within microseconds. It is

known as latching.

Characteristic curves of SCR

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Turning ON the SCR:

+VE pulse on Gate:
Gate turn-on voltage:
The gate to cathode voltage required to turn ON the SCR is known as gate turn-
on voltage (VGT). VGT ranges from 1 to 3 V.

Gate turn-on Current:

The amount of gate to cathode current
needed to turn the device ON is known as
gate turn-on current (IGT). IGT ranges from 1 to
150 mA.
Gate Triggering of the SCR (DC operation):
As SCR is forward-from anode to cathode.
Assume that gate voltage (VG) is 0 V.

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 If we close the switch (S), no current flows in the absence of gate current
(IG).
Assume that gate turn on voltage (VGT) is 0.6 V and IGT is 20 mA.
By Kirchhoff’s Law, VG is,
VG= VGK + VRG
By this equation we can find the gate voltage necessary to fire SCR.
GATE POWER:

 Maximum gate power of the SCR should not be exceeded.

 The gate power (PG) can be found by the following equation:
PG = IGVG
MAXIMUM DEVICE CURRENT:

 We can find the maximum current through the device as:

Imax =

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Latching Current:

 The amount of anode current necessary to keep the device on after the
switching from off state and after the trigger has been removed. The latching
current value is normally 2 to 3 times the holding current value.
ANODE CURRENT:

 It is the current flow through SCR. By Ohm’s Law,

IA =

Increasing Anode to Cathode Voltage from a certain Value:

BREAKOVER VOLTAGE:

 Amount of voltage required to turn ON SCR without gate pulse is known as

breakover voltage.
FORWARD BLOCKING REGION:

 When SCR is forward biased, very little current flows, this region is called
forward blocking region.

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HOLDING CURRENT:

 It is the amount of current required to keep the SCR on after removal of gate
pulse.. Once current falls below the holding current for an appropriate period
of time, the device will switch "off".
RATE EFFECT TURN ON METHOD:
 If a quickly rising voltage is applied between the anode and gate of an SCR,
charge current flows through the device, if this current is high enough, it can

trigger the SCR into conduction. It is called critical rate of rise or .

 This method is usually prevented because

the device may turn on when we do not
want it by this effect. Firing by exceeding
the critical rate of voltage rise is prevented
by the addition of an RC Snubber circuit.

Critical Rate of Current Rise:

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 Critical rate of current rise is expressed in amperes per microsecond.For

example; the critical rate of current rise of the 2N1595 is about 25 A/µs.
 Exceeding the value from critical rate may destroy the device.
 One method used to prevent current damage is shown below. The inductor L
in the anode lead opposes any change in the current, thus slowing down the
rise of anode current.

TURNING OFF SCR:

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 If a forward bias is established on SCR and a positive pulse is supplied t its

gate then it turns ON and gate terminal losses its control.
 The only way to turn OFF SCR is to reduce anode current below holding
current or make Anode more negative w.r.t Cathode.
 Turning OFF SCR is known as commutation.
 In AC signal applications SCR turns off at the end of every positive half.
This is known as Natural or line Commutation.
 In DC circuits following techniques are used.
1. Diverting the anode current to an alternate path.
2. Shorting the anode and cathode.
3. Apply a reverse voltage across SCR.
4. Forcing the Anode current to 0.
5. Momentarily reducing supply voltage to zero.

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REDUCING ANODE CURRENT:

 It is very simple method to turn OFF SCR. The anode current can be
interrupted by either a momentary series or parallel switching arrangement,

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COMMUTATION CAPACITOR METHOD:

FORCE COMMUTATION:
 The forced commutation method basically requires momentarily forcing
current through the SCR in the direction opposite to the forward conduction
so that the net forward current is reduced below the holding value.
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AC LINE COMMUTATION:

SOME SCR APPLICATIONS:

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ON-OFF CONTROL OF CURRENT:

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AN OVER-VOLTAGE PROTECTION CIRCUIT (CROWBAR):

http://www.most.gov.mm/techuni/media/EP02024_6.pdf
GTO:
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GTO stands for Gate turn off Thyristor.

It is very similar with SCR but it can be turned off using gate by applying negative
pulse on it.
SYMBOL:

INTERNAL STRUCTURE:

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There are following basic differences between SCR and GTO

1. Gate and Cathode are interdigitated to keep them near to each other. doping
density of this layer is highly graded.

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2. At regular intervals n type regions penetrate in the p type Anode and same
metallization is used make them in contact this arrangement is known as ANODE
short. This structure is used to speed up the turn off process.

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 GTO has same forward characteristics as SCR but doesn’t have same
reverse blocking capabilities because of anode short.
 Only junction J3 can block reverse voltage and it is heavily doped so can’t
block much voltage.
 The junction between the n base and p+ anode (J1) is called the “anode
junction”. For good turn on properties the efficiency of this anode junction
should be as high as possible requiring a heavily doped p+ anode region.
However, turn off capability of such a GTO will be poor with very low
maximum turn off current and high losses.
 Heavily doped n+ layers are introduced into the p+ anode layer. They make
contact with the same anode metallic contact. Therefore, electrons traveling
through the base can directly reach the anode metal contact without causing
hole injection from the p+ anode.

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How to improve turn off characteristics:

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Q. To get good turnoff properties what should be value of off?

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Q. Should 1 be minimized?
Q. Should 2 be minimized?
Q. What modifications are needed?

LASCR:
 Stands for light activated SCR.
 It is basically SCR uses light to trigger the scr instead
of a signal at the gate.
 Construction is same as SCR but a window is opened
to let in light.
 When light shines at the middle PN junction a minority
carrier current flows through it makes SCR turned ON.

TRIAC:

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 The TRIAC is a three terminal semiconductor device for controlling current. It is

effectively a development of the SCR but unlike the SCR which is only able to
conduct in one direction, the TRIAC is a bidirectional device.

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Characteristic Curve:

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TRIAC OPERATION:

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ADVANTAGES:
 Can switch both halves of an AC waveform
 Single component can be used for full AC switching

DISADVANTAGES:
 A TRIAC does not fire symmetrically on both sides of the waveform
 Switching gives rise to high level of harmonics due to non-symmetrical switching
 More susceptible to EMI problems as a result of the non-symmetrical switching
 Care must be taken to ensure the TRIAC turns off fully when used with inductive
loads
TRIAC APPLICATIONS:
 Domestic light dimmers
 Electric fan speed controls
 Small motor controls
 Control of small AC powered domestic appliances.

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