Power Diode: Construction, Operating

Principle and IV Characteristic

RAVI JANUARY 9, 2019 2 COMMENTS

Basic structure of Power Diode:

Power diode consists of three layers. Top layer is a heavily doped P + layer. Middle
layer is lightly doped n– layer and the last layer is a heavily doped n+ layer.
The heavily doped p+ layer act as an anode. The thickness of this layer is around 10
μm and doping level is 1019 cm-3.
Last layer of the heavily doped n+ act as a cathode. The thickness of this layer is
around 250 to 300 μm and doping level is 1019 cm-3.
Middle layer of lightly doped n– is known as a drift layer. The thickness of the drift layer
depends on the required breakdown voltage. The breakdown voltage increases with
an increase in the width of the drift layer. Resistivity of this layer is high because of the
low level of doping. If the width of the drift layer increased, then the on-state voltage
 drop increase therefore power loss is more. The doping level of the drift layer is
1014 cm-3.
The junction is form between the anode layer (p+) and drift layer (n–). The cross-section
area of the diode depends on the magnitude of current to be handled. Higher the
current to handle, more the area required.

Operating Principle of Power diode:

The operating principle of power diode is same as the conventional PN junction diode.
A diode conducts when the anode voltage is higher than the cathode voltage. The
forward voltage drop across the diode is very low around 0.5V to 1.2V. In this region,
the diode works as a forward characteristic.

If the cathode voltage is higher than the anode voltage, then the diode works as
blocking mode. In this mode, diode works according to the reverse characteristic.

I-V characteristic of Power Diode:

The I-V characteristic of power diode is as shown in the figure. The forward current
increase linearly with an increase in forward voltage.

A very small amount of leakage current flows in the reverse bias (blocking mode). The
leakage current is independent of the applied reverse voltage. The leakage current
flows due to the minority charge carriers. When the reverse voltage reaches the
reverse breakdown voltage, avalanche breakdown occurs. Once the reverse
breakdown occurs, the reverse current increase drastically with small increase in
reverse voltage. The reverse current can control by an external circuit.

Application of Power Diode in Power Electronics:

1. High voltage rectifier

2. As freewheeling diode
3. As feedback diode
In the case of reverse breakdown, As the voltage and current of the diode are large,
the power dissipation is dangerously high and it can destroy the device.

BJT:-

The power bipolar junction transistor (BJT) blocks a high voltage in the off state and high
current carrying capacity in the on-state. The power handling capacity is very high.
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Construction of Power BJT:

The power BJT has three terminals Collector (C), Emitter (E) and Base (B). It has a
vertically oriented four-layers structure. The vertical structure uses to increase the
cross-sectional area.
There are two types of BJT; n-p-n transistor and p-n-p transistor. Out of these two
types, the n-p-n transistors widely use compare to the p-n-p transistor.
 It has four layers. The first layer is a heavily doped emitter layer (n+). The second
layer is moderately doped the base layer (p). The third region is lightly
doped collector drift region (n-). The last layer is a highly doped collector region
(n+).
The drift layer (n-) increase the voltage blocking capacity of the transistor due to the
low doping level. The width of this layer decides the breakdown voltage. The
disadvantage of this layer is that the increase on state voltage drops and increase on
state device resistance, which increases power loss.

The power handling capacity of the power transistor is very large. So, they have to
dissipate power in the form of heat. Sometimes, heatsink uses to increase effective
area and therefore increase power dissipation capacity. the heatsink made from
metal.

I-V characteristic:
The I-V characteristic of Power BJT divides into four regions.

1. Cut-off region
2. Active region
3. Quasi-saturation region
4. Hard saturation region
In the structure of BJT, there are two junctions; Emitter junction (BE) and Collector
junction (CB).

1. Cut-off region:
The BE and CB both junctions are reverse bias. The base current IB=0 and collector
current IC is equal to the reverse leakage current ICEO. The region below the
characteristic for IB=0 is cut-off region. In this region, BJT offers large resistance to the
flow of current. Hence it is equivalent to an open circuit.
2. Active region:
The BE junction is forward bias and CB junction is reverse bias. The collector current
IC increase slightly with an increase in the voltage VCE if IB is increased. The relation of
IB and IC is, IC=βdcIB is true in the active region.
If BJT uses as an amplifier or as a series pass transistor in the voltage regulator, it
operates in this region. The dynamic resistance in this region is large. The power
dissipation is maximum.

3. Quasi-saturation region:
Quasi-saturation region is between the hard saturation and active region. This region
exists due to the lightly doped drift layer. When the BJT operates at high frequency, it
is operated in this region. Both junctions are forward bias. The device offers low
resistance compared to the active region. So, power loss is less. In this region, the
device does not go into deep saturation. So, it can turn off quickly. Therefore, we can
use for higher frequency applications.

4. Hard-saturation region:
The Power BJT push into the hard-saturation region from the quasi-saturation region
by increasing the base current. This region is also known as deep saturation region.
The resistance offers in this region is minimum. It is even less than the quasi-saturation
region. So, when the BJT operates in this region, power dissipation is minimum. The
device acts as a closed switch when it operates in this region. But it needs more time
to turn off. So, this region is suitable only for low-frequency switching application. In
this region, both junctions are forward bias. The collector current is not proportional to
the base current, IC remains almost constant at IC(sat) and independent from the value
of base current.

Power MOSFET: Construction, Operation,

and I-V characteristic
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MOSFET is a three-terminal device. The terminals are Drain, Source and Gate.
MOSFET is a short form of Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect
Transistor. This device is capable of switching at a high frequency up to 100 kHz.
Which is much higher than the power BJT. It has a good current carrying capacity
and higher off-state blocking voltage capacity. A power MOSFET is a voltage-
controlled device.
Types of MOSFET
1. Depletion type MOSFET
2. Enhancement type MOSFET

Construction of MOSFET

Power MOSFET has a vertically oriented four-layer structure. The p-type middle layer
term as the body. The n– layer is the drift layer. This layer is lightly dropped as
compared to the drain and source layer. The breakdown voltage of power MOSFET
determines from the width of the drift layer. First and last both layers are an n + layer.
First layer is the source layer and the last layer is the drain layer.

The n+ p n- n+ structure term as enhancement mode n channel MOSFET. A p-channel

MOSFET structure has exactly opposite doping profile.

The GATE terminal is not directly connected with p-type, there is an oxide layer
between the metal and semiconductor. This oxide layer act as a dielectric layer
between the metal and the semiconductor. It forms a MOS (metal oxide
semiconductor) capacitance at the input of the MOSFET. This capacitance is large
(>1000 pF). The oxide layer gives good insulating property by providing the SiO 2 layer
which isolates the gate terminal from the body layer.
Operating principle of MOSFET

Power MOSFET is a minority carrier device. So, conduction takes place only by the
electrons. Therefore, the conduction cannot take place through the MOSFET from the
 drain to source due to the presence of P-layer in between. But this is possible
by Inversion layer creation.
The operation of MOSFET divides into two parts

1. Formation of the depletion layer

2. Creation of Inversion Layer

1) Formation of the depletion layer

By connecting a positive voltage to the drain with respect to the source and the gate
is positive with respect to the body, the MOSFET works as forward biased. The p-layer
has a large number of holes and few electrons. The holes are the majority charge
carrier and electrons are minority charge carrier. Due to the positive voltage applied
between the gate and the body, these electrons are attracted towards the gate and
gather below the oxide layer and produce the depletion layer.

2) Creation of Inversion Layer

The number of electrons below the oxide layer will greater than the number of holes if
the positive gate voltage increases further. Hence, n-type of sublayer form below the
oxide layer. This process is known as the creation of the inversion layer. The
process of generation of an inversion layer due to the extremely applied gate voltage
is known as the field effect. This inversion layer is also known as the induced layer.
The resistance of induced layer depends on the magnitude of the gate to body voltage.
Higher the gate voltage less the resistance. The resistance decreases with an increase
in the gate to body voltage. But after a certain level, the resistance is not decreased
even increasing the gate to body voltage. If the maximum specified value of the gate
voltage exceeds then the oxide layer will breakdown.
I-V characteristic

It is a graph of drain current Id versus drain to source voltage VDS for different values of
the gate to source voltage VGS. It has three regions; saturation, cut-off, and ohmic
region. In the application where the MOSFET used as a switch, the device works in
the cut-off region and ohmic region when turned OFF and ON respectively. The
 operation in the saturation region avoided reducing the power dissipation in the on-
state.
When the gate-source voltage is less than the threshold voltage, the MOSFET is in
the cut-off state. To avoid breakdown the drain to source breakdown voltage should
be greater than the applied voltage. The avalanche breakdown takes place.

The power MOSFET goes into the ohmic region when a larger positive gate to source
voltage apply and the drain to source voltage is small. In this region, the power
dissipation is low.
In the saturation region, the drain current is almost independent of the drain to source
voltage. It is only dependent on the gate to source voltage. The gate voltage is greater
than the threshold voltage. The drain current increase with the increase in the gate to
source voltage.
Merits of a power MOSFET

1. The GATE driving circuit of MOSFET is simple.

2. It can operate at the high switching frequency.
3. It has better thermal stability because the temperature coefficient of MOSFET is positive.
4. easy to turn ON and OFF.
5. On-state resistance is low.
6. The second breakdown does not take place.

Demerits of a power MOSFET

1. The on-state voltage across the MOSFET is very high. So, on-state power dissipation is high.
2. It has the asymmetric blocking capacity. They can block a high forward voltage but they cannot
block high reverse voltage. Therefore, we need to connect a diode to protect the MOSFET.

Application of Power MOSFET

1. Uninterrupted Power Supplies (UPS)

2. Switch Mode Power Supplies (SMPS)
3. High-frequency inverter
4. Motor control application
5. Display driver
6. In power amplifier
7. Industrial applications
8. Relay driver

Related Articles

Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor – IGBT

RAVI APRIL 11, 2019 LEAVE A COMMENT
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor is known as IGBT. The IGBT is a combination of two
power electronics devices that is MOSFET and BJT. MOSFET has high-speed
switching characteristic and BJT has characteristic of low ON-state resistance. The
IGBT combines both of this characteristic. That’s why it is widely used power
electronics switch in all fields.

The equivalent circuit of IGBT

The IGBT includes an equivalent circuit of MOSFET as well as a transistor. So, it has
properties of both of the elements. As mentioned in the below figure, the IGBT has
MOSFET at the input side and the transistor at the output side. Because of this type
of circuit, the IGBT has advantages of MOSFET and transistor. The resistor connected
in the equivalent circuit is known as the drift resistor.

Construction
IGBT has three terminals; Collector, Emitter, and Gate. The Gate terminal is not
connected with internal structure. The Gate is insulated. Capacitance produces
between the Gate and semiconductor layer.
P+ layer connects with the collector terminal. This layer is also known as the injection
layer. N- layer is known as a drift layer. There are two major junctions.

Working of IGBT
Gate connect with the battery (VG) and an emitter terminal. The GATE terminal is
positive with respect to the emitter terminal.
the battery (VCC) connected between the collector and emitter. Here, the collector
terminal is positive with respect to the emitter terminal.
For the Gate voltage (VG) is zero. When the collector is positive with respect to the
emitter, the junction J1 is in forward bias and junction J2 is in reverse bias. Because of
J2 is in reverse bias, the current cannot flow through the collector to emitter.
Now, Gate voltage starts to increase. A channel (-Ve charge carrier) forms between
the N+ layer and P layer. Because of this channel, the breakdown occurs and current
start flowing in the circuit.
In the circuit, if the Gate voltage (VG) increases, the gate current (IG) and VGE increase.
Now, as the VGE increases, collector current increases, and VCE decrease. Here, the
input current is Gate current IG and output current is the collector current IC. Input
voltage is VGE and output voltage is VCE.
Characteristic
In IGBT, we will discuss two types of characteristics. The first characteristic transfer
characteristic. The transfer characteristic is associated with the output current (IC) and
the input voltage (VGE). So, the transfer characteristic is a graph of IC and VGE. This is
given in the below figure.

As we have seen in the working, as we increase V GE voltage, IC current will increase.

VGE voltage at least given higher than the threshold voltage. Then only, Gate will trigger
and IC will flow through the circuit. For silicon structured IGBT, VGE threshold voltage is
around 1 V.
 The output characteristic is a graphical relation between the output current I C and
output voltage VCE. For a different value of VGE, we draw this characteristic. For VGE=0,
a very small amount of current produce due to the minority charge carrier. Now, if
increase VGE and for different value of VGE, there will be a flow of current is increased
as shown in the below figure.

Advantages
1. Easy to turn ON and OFF
2. IGBT is a voltage-controlled device. Therefore, the driver circuit is simple.
3. Low on-state voltage drop. Hence, low on-state power dissipation.
4. Switching frequency higher than that of a power BJT.
5. Does not need snubber circuit for its protection.
6. It has a flat temperature coefficient of resistivity.

Disadvantages
1. Switching frequency is not as high as that of the MOSFET.
2. The problem with latch-ups.
3. At the time of turn OFF, it takes place excessive power dissipations due to the “current tail”
present in the turn-off characteristic.

Applications
1. Switching mode power supply (SMPS)
2. UPS system
3. AC motor controller
4. Choppers
5. Inverters
 Advantages of IGBT over BJT
1. IGBT is a voltage-controlled device. So, the driver circuit is simple.
2. IGBT can easily be connected in parallel.
3. Second break-down does not take place.
4. IGBT can switch at a higher frequency than BJT.
5. IGBTs need not snubber circuit for their protection.

Advantages of IGBT over MOSFET

1. In IGBT, on-state voltage loss is less compared to the MOSFET.
2. On-state power dissipation is less.
3. IGBT can handle higher power than MOSFET

Gate Turn Off Thyristor

JUNE 18, 2019 BY ADMINISTRATOR 1 COMMENT

In this tutorial, we will learn about a special type of Thyristor called the Gate Turn Off
Thyristor. We will learn its construction, circuit symbol, the V-I Characteristics, the
principle of operation and some of the commonly known applications of Gate Turn
Off Thyristor.

Table of Contents
 Introduction
 Basics of Gate Turn-Off Thyristor
 Construction
 Principle of Operation
 V-I Characteristics
 Gate Turn-Off Thyristor Applications
Introduction
Although the thyristor is extensively used in high power applications, it always
suffered from being a semi-controlled device. Even though it could be switched ON
by applying a gate signal, it has to be turned OFF by interrupting the main current
using a commutation circuit.

In case of DC to DC and DC to AC conversion circuits, this becomes a serious

deficiency with thyristor due to the absence of natural current zero (as in case of AC
circuits). Hence, the development of Gate Turn off Thyristor (GTO) addresses the
major problem of the thyristor by ensuring the turn OFF mechanism through the gate
terminal.
 GTO
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Basics of Gate Turn-Off Thyristor

A Gate Turn off Thyristor or GTO is a three terminal, bipolar (current controlled
minority carrier) semiconductor switching device. Similar to conventional thyristor,
the terminals are anode, cathode and gate as shown in figure below. As the name
indicates, it has gate turn off capability.

These are capable not only to turn ON the main current with a gate drive circuit, but
also to turn it OFF. A small positive gate current triggers the GTO into conduction
mode and also by a negative pulse on the gate, it is capable of being turned off.
Observe in below figure that the gate has double arrows on it which distinguish the
GTO from normal thyristor. This indicates the bidirectional current flow through the
gate terminal.
The gate current required to turn off the GTO is relatively high. For example, a GTO
rated with 4000V and 3000A may need -750A gate current to switch it off. So the
typical turn off gain of GTO is low and is in the range of 4 to 5. Due to this large
negative current, GTOs are used in low power applications.

On the other hand, during the conduction state GTO behaves just like a thyristor with
a small ON state voltage drop. The GTO has faster switching speed than the
thyristor and has higher voltage and current ratings than the power transistors.

Several varieties of GTOs are available in today’s market with asymmetric and
symmetric voltage capabilities. GTOs with identical forward and reverse blocking
capabilities are called as symmetric GTOs (S-GTOs). These are used in current
source inverters, but these are somewhat slower. Mostly asymmetric GTOs (A-
GTOs) are used due to its lower ON state voltage drop and stable temperature
characteristics.

These asymmetrical GTOs have an appreciable reverse voltage capability (typically

20 to 25 V). These are used where either the reverse voltage across it would never
occur or a reverse conducting diode is connected across the circuit. This article
describes only about asymmetric GTOs.

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Construction
Consider the below structure of GTO, which is almost similar to the thyristor. It is
also a four layer, three junction P-N-P-N device like a standard thyristor. In this, the
n+ layer at the cathode end is highly doped to obtain high emitter efficiency. This
result the breakdown voltage of the junction J3 is low which is typically in the range
of 20 to 40 volts.

The doping level of the p type gate is highly graded because the doping level should
be low to maintain high emitter efficiency, whereas for having a good turn OFF
properties, doping of this region should be high. In addition, gate and cathodes
should be highly interdigited with various geometric forms to optimize the current turn
off capability.

The junction between the P+ anode and N base is called anode junction. A heavily
doped P+ anode region is required to obtain the higher efficiency anode junction so
that a good turn ON properties is achieved. However, the turn OFF capabilities are
affected with such GTOs.

This problem can be solved by introducing heavily doped N+ layers at regular

intervals in P+ anode layer as shown in figure. So this N+ layer makes a direct
contact with N layer at junction J1. This cause the electrons to travel from base N
region directly to anode metal contact without causing hole injection from P+ anode.
This is called as a anode shorted GTO structure.
Due to these anode shorts, the reverse blocking capacity of the GTO is reduced to
the reverse breakdown voltage of junction j3 and hence speeds up the turn OFF
mechanism.

However, with a large number of anode shorts, the efficiency of the anode junction
reduces and hence the turn ON performance of the GTO degrades. Therefore,
careful considerations have to be taken about the density of these anode shorts for a
good turn ON and OFF performance.

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Principle of Operation
The turn ON operation of GTO is similar to a conventional thyristor. When the anode
terminal is made positive with respect to cathode by applying a positive gate current,
the hole current injection from gate forward bias the cathode p-base junction.

This results in the emission of electrons from the cathode towards the anode
terminal. This induces the hole injection from the anode terminal into the base
region. This injection of holes and electrons continuous till the GTO comes into the
conduction state.

In case of thyristor, the conduction starts initially by turning ON the area of cathode
adjacent to the gate terminal. And thus, by plasma spreading the remaining area
comes into the conduction.

Unlike a thyristor, GTO consists of narrow cathode elements which are heavily
interdigitated with gate terminal, thereby initial turned ON area is very large and
plasma spreading is small. Hence the GTO comes into the conduction state very
quickly.
To turn OFF a conducting GTO, a reverse bias is applied at the gate by making the
gate negative with respect to cathode. A part of the holes from the P base layer is
extracted through the gate which suppress the injection of electrons from the
cathode.

In response to this, more hole current is extracted through the gate results more
suppression of electrons from the cathode. Eventually, the voltage drop across the p
base junction causes to reverse bias the gate cathode junction and hence the GTO
is turned OFF.

During the hole extraction process, the p-base region is gradually depleted so that
the conduction area squeezed. As this process continuous, the anode current flows
through remote areas forming high current density filaments. This causes local hot
spots which can damage the device unless these filaments are extinguished quickly.

By the application of high negative gate voltage these filaments are extinguished
rapidly. Due to the N base region stored charge, the anode to gate current continues
to flow even though the cathode current is ceased. This is called a tail current which
decays exponentially as the excess charge carriers are reduced by the
recombination process. Once the tail current reduced to a leakage current level, the
device retains its forward blocking characteristics.

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V-I Characteristics
During the turn ON, GTO is similar to thyristor in its operates.So the first quadrant
characteristics are similar to the thyristor. When the anode is made positive with
respect to cathode, the device operates in forward blocking mode. By the application
of positive gate signal triggers the GTO into conduction state.

The latching current and forward leakage currents are considerably higher in GTO
compared to the thyristor as shown in figure. The gate drive can be removed if the
anode current is above the holding current level.

But it is recommended not to remove the positive gate drive during conduction and to
hold at value more than the maximum critical gate current. This is because the
cathode is subdivided into small finger elements as discussed above to assist the
turn OFF process.

This causes the anode current dips below the holding current level transiently, which
forces a high anode current at a high rate back into the GTO. This can be potentially
destructive. Therefore, some manufacturers recommend the continuous gate signal
during the conduction state.

The GTO can be turned OFF by the application of reverse gate current which can be
either step or ramp drive. The GTO can be turned OFF without reversing anode
voltage. The dashed line in the figure shows i-v trajectory during the turn OFF for an
inductive load. It should be noted that during the turn OFF, GTO can block a rated
forward voltage only.

To avoid dv/dt triggering and protect the device during turn OFF, either a
recommended value of resistance must be connected between the gate and cathode
or a small reverse bias voltage (typically -2V) must be maintained on the gate
terminal. This prevents the gate cathode junction to become forward biased and
hence the GTO sustains during the turn OFF state.

In reverse biased condition of GTO, the blocking capability is depends on the type of
GTO. A symmetric GTO has a high reverse blocking capability while asymmetric
GTO has a small reverse blocking capability as shown in figure.

It is observed that, during reverse biased condition, after a small reverse voltage (20
to 30 V) GTO starts conducting in reverse direction due to the anode short structure.
This mode of operation does not destroy the device provided that the gate is
negatively biased and the time of this operation should be small.

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Gate Turn-Off Thyristor Applications

Due to the advantages like excellent switching characteristics, no need of
commutation circuit, maintenance-free operation, etc makes the GTO usage
predominant over thyristor in many applications. It is used as a main control device
in choppers and inverters. Some of these applications are

 AC drives
 DC drives or DC choppers
 AC stabilizing power supplies
 DC circuit breakers
 Induction heating
 And other low power applications