LECTURE 18 (Ch.

7)
THYRISTORS
(SCRs)
MCT 4333
Power Electronics
1

Thyristor Types

Thyristors are manufactured by diffusion.

The anode current requires a finite time to

propagate to the whole area of the junction.

This is from the point near the gate when

the gate signal is applied.

Manufacturers use various gate structures

to control the di/dt, turn-on time, and turnoff time.
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Based on physical construction, turn-on and

turn-off behavior, thyristors are classified into
nine categories:
Phase-controlled thyristors (SCRs)
Bidirectional phase-controlled thyristors (BCTs)
Fast-switching thyristors (SCRs)
Light-activated silicon-controlled rectifiers (LASCRs)
Bidirectional triode thyristors (TRIACs)
Reverse-conducting thyristors (RCT)

Gate-turn-off thyristors (GTOs)

FET-controlled thyristors (FET-CTHs)
MOS-controlled thyristors (MCTs)
Emitter turn-off (control) thyristors
(ETOs)
Integrated gate-commutated thyristors
(IGCTs)
MOS-controlled thyristors (MCTs)
Static induction thyristors (SITHs)

Phase-Controlled
Thyristors

This type of thyristors operates at the line

frequency and is turned off by natural
commutation.

The turn-off time is of the order of 50 to 100

s.

They are used for low-speed switching

applications, also known as converter
thyristor.
5

The on-state voltage varies from

1.15 V for 600V to 2.5 V for 4000 V
SCRs, and 1.25 V for 1200 V and
5500 A thyristor.

The dv/dt is about 1000 V/s and the

di/dt is 500 A/s.
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BCTs

It is a new concept for high power

phase control.

It combines advantages of having

two antiparallel thyristor in one
package.

The maximum voltage rating is as high as 6.5 kV

at 1.8 kA.

The maximum current rating is 3 kA at 1.8 kV.

A BCT has two gates; one for turning on the

forward current, and one for turning on the
reverse current.

This thyristor is turned on with a pulse current to

one of its gates.

It is turned off if the anode current falls below

the holding current.

Fast-Switching
Thyristors

The thyristors are used in high-speed

switching applications with forced
commutation.

They have fast turn-off time, in the range

of 5 to 50 s.

The on-state forward voltage drop is

inversely proportional to the turn-off time.
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This type of thyristor is also known

as an inverter thyristor.

They have high dv/dt of 1000 V/s

and high di/dt of 1000 A/s.

The on-state forward voltage is about

1.7 V for a 2200 A, 1800 V SCR.
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Light-Activated SCR

This device is turned on by direct radiation

of light on the silicon wafer.

The gate structure is designed to provide

sufficient gate sensitivity for triggering from
practical light sources.

The LASCRs are used in high-voltage and

high-current applications such as HVDC and
SVC.
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LASCR offers complete electrical isolation

between the light triggering source and the
switching device of a power converter, which
floats at a potential as high as a few hundred kV.

The voltage rating can be as high as 4 kV at 1500

A with light triggering of less than 100 mW.

The typical di/dt is 250 A/s and the dv/dt could

be as high as 2000 V/s.

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Bidirectional-Triode
Thyristors

A TRIAC can conduct in both directions.

It is normally used in ac phase control

applications such as ac voltage
controllers.

It can be considered as two SCRs

connected in antiparallel with a common
gate connection.
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14

Since a TRIAC is a bidirectional device, its

terminals cannot be designated as anode or
cathode.

If MT2 is positive with respect to MT1, the

TRIAC can be turned on by applying a
positive gate signal between G and MT 1.

If MT2 is negative with respect to MT1, the

TRIAC can be turned on by applying a
negative gate signal between G and MT 1.

15

Reverse-Conducting
Thyristors

In many choppers and inverter circuits, an

antiparallel diode is connected across an
SCR.

This is to allow the reverse current flow due

to an inductive load.

The diode clamps the reverse blocking

voltage of the SCR to 1 or 2 V under the
steady-state conditions.
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An RCT is a compromise between the

device characteristics and circuit
requirements.

It is also called an asymmetrical

thyristor (ASCR).

The forward blocking is as high as

2000 V and the current rating goes up

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Gate-Turn-Off Thyristors

A gate-turn-off thermistors (GTO) like an

SCR can be turned on by applying a
positive gate signal.
GTO can be turned off by a negative gate
signal.
GTOs have certain advantages over SCRs:
Elimination of the commutating components
Reduction of electromagnetic noise due to
elimination of the commutation chokes

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Faster turn-off times

Improved efficiency of the converters

A large initial gate trigger pulse is required

to turn on a GTO.

Once the GTO is turned on, forward gate

current must be continued for the whole
conduction period (1% of the turn on
pulse).

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A GTO requires a relatively high

negative current pulse to turn off.

It also has a higher on-state voltage

of 3.4 V for a 550 A and 1200 V
device.

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FET-Controlled Thyristor

A FET-CTH device combines

MOSFET and a thyristor.

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If a sufficient voltage is applied to the gate

of the MOSFET (3 V), a triggering current
for the thyristor is generated.

It has a high switching speed, high di/dt,

and high dv/dt.

This device can be turned on like

conventional thyristors, but it cannot be
turned off by gate control.
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MOS Turn-Off Thyristor

It is a combination of a GTO and a

MOSFET.

It overcomes limitations of the GTO

turn-off ability.

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The main drawback of a GTO is that they

require a high pulse current drive circuit for
the low impedance gate.

The typical amplitude of the current for the

gate circuit is about 35% of the main current.

The MTO provides the same functionality as

the GTO but uses a gate drive that needs to
turn on a MOS transistor on and off.

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It can handle 10kV and up to 4 kA.

It can be used in power applications from 1 to 20

MVA.

The MTO is turned on similar to conventional

SCRs by applying a current pulse to its gate.

To turn off the MTO, a gate pulse voltage is

applied to the MOSFET gate.

Turning on the MOSFET shorts the emitter-base

of the npn transistor and turns the SCR off by
stopping the latching process.

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Emitter Turn-Off
Thyristors
ETO is a MOS-GTO hybrid device that
combines the advantages of GTO and
MOSFET.

ETO has two gates: one normal gate for

turn-on and one with a series MOSFET for
turn-off.
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High power ETOs with current and

voltage ratings of 4 kA and 6 kV have
been demonstrated.

ETO is turned on by applying a positive

voltage to gates 1 and 2.

A negative voltage to the gate will turn

off the device.
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IGCT

The internal structure and equivalent

circuit of an IGCT are similar to that of
GTO.

It is turned on by applying a current to

the gate.

It is turned off by applying a fast rising

and high gate current.
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MOS-Controlled
Thyristor

A MOS-Controlled Thyristor (MCT)

combines the features of a
regenerative four-layer thyristor and
a MOS-gate structure.

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The gate structure can be represented by a pchannel MOSFET and an n-channel MOSFET.

An MCT has:
Low voltage drop during conduction
Fast turn-on time (0.4 s) and fast turn-off time
(1.25 s)
Low switching losses
Low reverse voltage blocking capability
High gate input impedance

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Static Induction
Thyristor

The characteristics of a SITH are

similar to those of a MOSFET.

A SITH is normally turned on by

applying a positive gate voltage like
normal thyristors, and is turned off
by application of a negative voltage
to its gate.
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SITH has low on-state resistance or voltage

drop.

A SITH has fast switching speeds and high

dv/dt and di/dt capabilities.

The switching time is in the order of 1 to 6 s.

The voltage rating is as a high a 2500 V and

the current rating is limited to 500 A.

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Series Operation of
Thyristors

For high voltage applications, two or more

thyristors can be connected in series.

Due to manufacturing, the characteristics

of thyristors of the same type are not
identical.

The following figure shows the off-state

characteristics of two thyristors.
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34

For the same off-state current, their

off-state voltage differ.

The voltage sharing is accomplished

by connecting resistors across each
thyristor.

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For equal voltage sharing, the offstate currents differ as shown below.
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37

Let there be ns thyristors in the string.

The off-state current of thyristor T 1 is

ID1, and that of other thyristors are
equal (if they share equal voltages)
such that:
ID2 = ID3 = IDn & ID1 < ID2

Since T1 has the least off-state current,

T1 will share higher voltage (if they
dont share equal voltages).
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The value of resistor R is calculated from:

VD1

Vs ( ns 1) RI D

ns

Where,
I D I D 2 I D1

will be maximum when

maximum
or when
is
zero.
V
I
D1

I D1

is

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VDS (max)

Vs ( ns 1) RI D 2
ns

During the turn-off, the differences

in stored charge cause differences in
the reverse voltage sharing.

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The thyristor with the least recovery charge,

or reverse recovery time, will face the highest
transient voltage.

It will become necessary to use an RC

network across each thyristor, and R limits the
discharge current.

The same RC network is used for both

transient voltage sharing and dv/dt protection.

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The transient voltage across the

thyristor is obtained from:
Q2 Q1 Q
V RI D

C1
C1
1
(ns 1)Q
VD1 [Vs
]
ns
C1
1
(ns 1)Q2
VDT (max) [Vs
]
ns
C1
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A derating factor which is normally

used to increase the reliability of the
string is defined as:
Vs
DRF 1
nsVDS (max)

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