Presentation summary

Overview of electric drives Converter Types of power electronic switches and their symbols Diodes Thyristors or SCRs BJTs MOSFETs IGBTs GTOs IGCTs Other devices Summary of Capabilities

Overview of electrical drives

Converter

As the figure above suggests, a converter is a combination of power electronic switches, inductors, capacitors, resistors (as snubbers) and transformers.

Types of power electronic switches

Note: Most of these switches carry current only in one direction. However in some switches (eg. MOSFET) there may be a diode to carry current in the opposite direction. Most of the controlled switches are normally off. However, there may be some switches (eg. Static induction transistor SIT) that may be normally on.

Device symbols
General symbol of a switch
A K

Diode

SCR

TRIAC

T1

T2
C

BJT(NPN)

Device Symbols (Continued)

D

MOSFET (N- channel)

G S

IGBT

E
G A K

GTO

Note: A Anode, B- Base, C-Collector, D-Drain , G-Gate ,E-Emitter, K Cathode, SSource, T1-Terminal 1, T2- Terminal 2

Diodes
Symbol
A K

iD
infinity

Ideal Characteristics
infinity

vD

iD

Actual Characteristics

Vrated VF
Reverse blocking region Forward Voltage drop

vD

Different types of diodes

1. Schottky diodes
They have low forward voltage drop ( 0.3 V).

They are used in low voltage high current circuits.

They have low reverse voltage capabilities (50 100 V).

They are also very fast switching type of diodes with very less reverse recovery time (trr).

Different types of diodes (2)

2. Fast/ Ultra-fast/ Hyper fast recovery diodes
These diodes have very low recovery time, typically 30ns trr 1 s. Thus these diodes are used in high frequency circuits.

3. Line frequency diodes

These diodes have larger recovery time trr 100 s. They are available with large current/ voltage ratings (several kAs and kVs). They are typically used for line frequency (50, 60 Hz) rectifiers. Large on-state voltage drops up to 3 volts.

Reverse recovery time of a diode

iD
D
Vbus

trr
(reverse recovery time)

In the circuit shown above (left) ,when S is turned on the current through D falls in the manner shown (above, right). The reverse recovery time trr depends upon the speed at which the free electrons at the diode p-n junction is swept away.

Thyristor or SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier)

G

Symbol

A
L O A D

P1 N1 G P 2 N2
DC

VG
K

DC

Equivalent SCR structure A=Anode, G=Gate, K= Cathode

SCR (2)
They have four layer PNPN junctions. Can be turned on by (i) Applying +VGK (continuous or pulsed) (ii)Light activation (very good for isolation of driver circuit from power circuit) (iii) Applying +VAK VBO (iii) Applying large dVAK/dt (iv) With high junction operating temperature. To start conduction, SCR anode cathode current has to go above IL (latching current) before the gate pulse can be removed. Otherwise SCR stops conduction. Once latched, the SCR current has to be maintained above IH (holding current). Otherwise SCR stops conducting. IH < IL.

SCR Characteristics

Commutation of SCRs
Commutation means stoppage of current conduction. SCRs cannot be commutated by just removing the gate drive. It can only be stopped from conduction by applying a negative voltage across anode and cathode for a specified period of time (tq). This is called voltage/ line commutation. Any positive voltage reapplied within tq (recovery time) may cause the SCR to start conduction again. By forcing the current in SCR to go to zero. As current falls below holding current (IH) SCR switches off. This is called current/ load / forced commutation. This normally requires an additional SCR, inductor and capacitor.

Examples of SCR Commutation

(i) Example : Line Commutation (Half wave controlled rectified DC drive)

Note: R,L,C form an under-damped circuit

(ii) Example : Load Commutation (Series inverter)

di/dt & dv/dt limitations for SCRs

At turn on, localized hot spots near gate connection may destroy an SCR unless di/dt (rate of rise of anode-cathode current) is restricted. This can be achieved by including an inductor in series with a SCR. High values of dVAK/dt can trigger SCR even in the absence of gate current. Example:
V

RAK

RS

CS

. SCR is represented by a resistor RAK when it is off. Just after switch sw is closed dVAK/dt @ t =0 is equal to V/ (see below), where is the time constant. = L/RAK. Remedy: Connect Rs, Cs across SCR. Typical values of Rs, Cs (15 , 0.1 F).

Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs) and Power Darlingtons

The BJT is operated either in cut off or in saturation region. To operate the device in saturation region, IB> IC/hFE where hFE is the DC current gain of the device (hFE = 5 to 10 in saturation region for BJT). Low hFE implies high base current requirements. Hence BJTs are not used extensively for high power level switches. Instead Darlington transistor is used reduce drive power (base current)rs are used.

hFE of a Darlington transistor is around 75 to 100.

Typical operating frequency is between 1- 10 kHz.

BJT and Darlington symbols and Characteristics

C

C B

C B
B

E
E

NPN

PNP
iC

Darlington

iB1<iB2<iB3<iB4 iB4 IC iB3 iB2 iB1 vCE(sat) vCE

Ideal BJT Charatersistics

NPN Characteristics

Reverse or Forward Bias Safe Operating Area

Under both transient (switch on & off) and steady state operating conditions the power dissipation of the device has to be within the safe operating area. The limits of the safe operating areas are imposed by ICM (maximum collector current) TJ max (maximum junction temperature) Second breakdown (only in BJTs) BVCEO (maximum collector emitter breakdown voltage)

Second Breakdown
Second breakdown : It is the thermal runaway caused by localized hot spots
due to current crowding. This is because a BJT is a minority carrier device

having a negative temperature coefficient of resistance. Increased current will

thus cause higher temperature leading to lower resistance and hence more current.

Power MOSFETs
D
D

N Channel MOSFET P Channel MOSFET Body diode bypassed with body diode with body diode Comes with intrinsic body diode (Figure above, left) which is not very fast. Can be replaced by a faster diode (Figure above, right) in the following way.

Recently some MOSFETs are available with fast body diode.

MOSFET Characteristics
iD
iD
infinity

iD

vGS1< vGS2 <vGS3< vGS4 vGS4 vGS3 vGS2 vGS1

vGS(th) vGS

infinity

vDS

BvDSS vDS
Drain-source Characteristics

Gate-source Characteristics

Ideal MOSFET Characteristics

N-Channel MOSFET Characteristics

Note: BVDSS is forward breakdown voltage

Other MOSFET Characteristics

Operating frequency 1-10 MHz

Rds(on) : The on state channel resistance between Drain and Source. This is a very important parameter. Rds(on) K.(BVDSS)2.5-2.7. Thus higher the higher the breakdown voltage higher is Rds(on) . Rds(on) is usually specified at room temperature. It can increase 2-3 times once the device is heated up. Recent development (COOLMOS) has higher voltage but lower Rds(on) .

Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)

D T1 M1 T2 G

IGBT symbol IGBT is a hybrid device.

Latch-up caused by parasitic thyristor

Has a comparable on-state conduction loss as a BJT.

Can switch faster than a BJT but is slower than a MOSFET.

Initially IGBTs used to have latch up problems due to a parasitic thyristor (top fig. right) existing due to the nature of the IGBT construction (M1, T1 are responsible for normal operation. T1, T2 cause latch up).
Once latched, gate control is lost. Then the only way to stop IGBT from conduction was to commutate the device like an SCR.

Actual IGBT Characteristics

iC

vGE(th)

vGE
Collector-emitter Characteristics

Gate-emitter Characteristics

Other Devices
1) Gate Turn-off Thyristor (GTO):
G A K

The device has no reverse blocking capability. The device can be turned-off by applying large negative gate current. Maximum controllable anode current: Maximum value of device current with which the device can be successfully turned-off. This value is less than the maximum current a GTO can carry.

2) Integrated Gate Commutated Thyristor (IGCT):

Similar to GTO with much less gate drive requirement to turn off the device.

Other devices (2)

3) Power junction field effect transistor or JFET or static induction transistor (SIT). They are not very popular as they are normally ON devices. 4) Field Controlled Thyristor (FCT) is also a normally ON device. 5) Mos Controlled Thyristor (MCT) failed device.

Summary of power electronic device capabilities

Ref: Mohan, Undeland and Robbins. Power Electronics, 2nd ed., 1995, John Wiley)

Note: Even though MCT (MOS Controlled Thyristor) had been predicted as the device of the future by the arrow and the dotted box, the technology never matured. Instead, IGCT (Insulated Gate Commutated Thyristor) technology seems more promising. Check the following website for more details on this device: http://www05.abb.com/global/scot/scot232.nsf/veritydisplay/ ae8a8e1d424af97ec12576c40053ca34/$file/igct.pdf