Advanced Power Electronics

Introduction
Power electronics involves the study of electronic circuits
intended to control the flow of electrical energy. These
circuits handle the power flow at levels much higher than the
individual device rating.

Definition:
Power electronics is the technology associated with efficient
conversion and control of electric power by power
semiconductor devices.
 Power Electronics Switches
The Diode
A diode is the simplest switch. It is uncontrollable in that the on and off
conditions are determined by voltages and currents in the circuit.

Power Diodes:
The construction of this diode includes three layers like the P+ layer n– layer and n+
layer. Top layer is the P+ layer, it is heavily doped.
The middle layer is n– layer, it is lightly doped.
Last layer is n+ layer, and it is heavily doped.
The thickness of the n- drift region depends upon the breakdown voltage of the diode.
The drift region determines the reverse breakdown voltage of the diode.
As it is lightly doped, it will add significant ohmic resistance in the diode when it is
forward biased.
 V-I Characteristics of Power Diodes
• In signal diodes for a forward biased region the current increases
exponentially however in power diodes high forward current leads to high
ohmic drop which dominates the exponential growth and the curve
increases almost linearly.
• The maximum reverse voltage that the diode can withstand is depicted by
VRRM, i.e. peak reverse repetitive voltage.
 Reverse Recovery Characteristics
(https://www.electrical4u.com/power-diodes/ )

Whenever the diode is switched off the current decays from IF to zero and further
continues in reverse direction owing to the charges stored in the depletion region of the
junction.
This reverse current attains a peak IRR and again starts approaching zero value and
finally, the diode is off after time trr.
trr = Reverse recovery time, it is defined as the time between the instant forward
current reaches zero and the instant the reverse current decays to 25% of IRR. After
this time the diode is said to attain its reverse blocking capability.
ta → time between zero crossing and the maximum reverse current. It is due to the
charge stored in the depletion region.
tb → time between the maximum reverse current IRR and 25% of the maximum
reverse current IRR and it is due to charge stored in bulk semiconductor material.
 Types of Power Diode
The classification of these diodes can be done based on the
reverse recovery time, the process of manufacturing & the
depletion region penetration in reversed bias condition.
• General Purpose Diodes-huge reverse recovery time around
25μs; applicable in low frequency (up to 1 kHz) & low-speed
operations (up to 1- kHz) with high voltage and current. (1N5400-
1N5408)
• Fast Recovery Diodes-small reverse recovery time less than 5μs,
have quick recovery, used in high power, high-speed switching
applications (MUR 1610CT, 15CT, 20CT, 40CT, 60CT)
• Schottky Diodes- Low on state voltage drop, have only majority
carriers. Known as a barrier diode.
It is widely used in different applications like a mixer, in radio
frequency applications, and as a rectifier in power applications.
• Silicon Carbide diode- Altra low power loss, altra fast switching,
highly reliable, no temperature influence, but very expensive.
 Schottky Diodes continue……
It has ,
Low turn-on voltage 0.3V,
Fast recovery time,
Low junction capacitance.
Limited blocking voltage capabilities to 50-100V

As compared to p-n junction diode it has :

a) Lower cut-in voltage
b) Higher reverse leakage current
c) Higher operating frequency
The power diodes can be classified into the following categories
as per their properties
Reverse
Voltage ratings Current ratings
Type recovery Applications Remarks
(VRRM) (IF)
time (trr)
General 1A to several UPS, battery
Purpose 50-5000 V thousand ~25µs chargers, welding, –
Diodes Amps traction, etc.

Fast 1A to several SMPS, commutation Doping is done

Recovery 50-3000 V thousand <5µs circuits, choppers, using platinum or
Diode Amps induction heating gold

Metal-
semiconductor
Very high frequency
junction, usually Al-
Schottky switching power
Up to 100V 1-300 A ~ns Si(n-type), majority
Diodes supplies and
carrier device,
instrumentation
hence very low turn
off time
Diode Parameters:
• Average current, IFav
• Root mean square (RMS) current, IFrms
• Peak current, IF
• Surge current, IFSM
• Breakdown or reverse voltage, VRRM
• Forward drop, VF
• Dynamic resistance, rd
• Reverse recovery time, trr
• 𝐼 2 𝑡 Rating
 Power Electronics Switches
Types:
SCR: Silicon controlled rectifier
GTO: Gate turn off thyrisor
MCT: MOS controlled thyristor
 Power Electronics Switches
Thyristors
• Power electronics era is started from Thyristor, invented in 1956 in Bell
laboratories.
• Thyristor is an electronic switch used in some power electronic circuits
where control of switch turn on is required.
• Thyristor is a semi controlled device as turn on time can be controlled only
• It almost replaced all vacuum devices in power electronics area.
• It is used in high power applications due to its power handling capacity.
 Thyristor continue…
N2: Thin, Highly doped
P2: Slightly thicker, doping less compared to N2
N1: Thickest, doping level minimum
P1:same as P2
 Thyristor continue…
Operation:
When the anode is at a positive potential VAK
with respect to the cathode with no
voltage applied at the gate terminal,
junction J1 and J3 are forward biased,
while junction J2 is reverse biased, no
conduction takes place.
Now if VAK is increased beyond the
breakdown voltage VBO of the thyristor,
avalanche breakdown of J2 takes place and
the thyristor starts conducting.
If a positive potential VG is applied at the gate
terminal with respect to the cathode, the
breakdown of the junction J2 occurs at a
lower value of VAK. By selecting an
appropriate value of VG, the thyristor can
be switched into the on states suddenly.
 Thyristor continue….
Methods of triggering:
• Avalanche breakdown: High voltage across anode and cathode
• High dv/dt

• Light radiation
• Gate triggering
• By rise in temperature
Switching characteristics of SCR
 Thyristor Ratings
•Anode voltage rating
•Peak forward blocking or forward OFF state voltage (VDWM)
•Peak repetitive forward blocking voltage (VDRM)
•Peak Non-repetitive or surge forward blocking voltage (VDSM)
•Peak working reverse voltage (VRWM)
•Peak repetitive reverse voltage (VRRM)
•Peak nonrepetitive reverse voltage (VRSM)
•Forward dv/dt rating
•Voltage safety factor of SCR (VSF)
•Finger voltage of SCR (VFV)
 GTO: Gate turn off Thyristor
• GTO is a three terminal, bipolar (current controlled minority carrier)
semiconductor switching device.
• These are capable not only to turn ON the main current with a gate
drive circuit, but also to turn it OFF.
• Developed by GE in 1961 (small power)
• In 1981, high power (2.5kV, 1kA) GTO developed by Hitachi, Toshiba
• 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.
• Depending on voltage handling capability GTO’s are classified as
1)Symmetric GTO
2) Asymmetric GTO
• 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.
 Structure of GTO
• It has four layers similar to SCR.
• Cathode side N+ layer is removed by etching where gate contact is situated.
• It increases cathode periphery and reduces gate to cathode distance. This is
called interdigitization.
• Due to interdigitization large area is available during turn on. di/dt is large
and therefore GTO can be brought into conduction very fast and turn on
time reduces.
• Due to interdigitization large number of GTO’s are in parallel.
• When forward biased J2 block the voltage.
• When reverse biased J1 blocks the voltage, as J3 is very small and can not
block the large voltage.
 Structure of GTO
Asymmetric GTO structure:
• In anode side, N+ structure penetrate the P+ layer.
• When reverse biased there is direct short circuit between anode and N-
layer and as J1 is very small, it can not block reverse voltage.
• Small reverse voltage is blocked due to J3.
• Hence it is called asymmetric GTO.
A
 Switching characteristics of GTO
• Turn on process in GTO is similar to that of SCR. Gate turn on time of GTO is
composed of delay time, rise time and spread time just like a normal thyristor. Turn
on time can be decreased by increasing the forward gate current.

Even when the GTO is turned on, a small amount (10% of peak) of positive gate
current is continuously applied. This small positive gate current is called “Back
Porch Current”.
 Switching characteristics of GTO
• Turn off characteristics of GTO is different from the SCR.
• Before the initiation of turn off process, GTO carries anode
current Ia in forward direction. As soon as the negative gate
current is applied at t=0, turn off process begins. The rate of
rise of gate current depends on the circuit inductance and
anode voltage.
• The very first step during turn off process is the removal of
stored charges (holes in P+ layer) by the negative gate current.
• The time elapsed in removing the stored charges is called
the Storage Period (ts).
• During this period, the anode voltage and current will remain
unchanged.
• Once the stored charges are removed, the anode current will
fall rapidly and hence, the anode voltage starts rising.
• This time during which anode current falls rapidly is called
the Fall Time (tf).
• After storage time and fall time, the anode voltage and
current starts moving toward their turn off values i.e. rated
anode voltage and zero current respectively.
• The total time elapsed to reach anode voltage and current to
their turn off values is called the Tail Time (tt).
• After tail time, anode current becomes zero but the anode
voltage undergoes a transient overshoot due to the presence
of resistance (Rs) and capacitance (Cs) and then stabilizes to its
off-state value i.e. source voltage applied to anode circuit.
• For turn off RC snubber circuit is required. Its layout design is
critical due to loop inductance.
• Tail time increases with increase in device rating. Due to tail
time the GTO has significant turn off losses.
• Anode shorting helps to reduce tail time but it blocks only +ve
voltage and –Ve voltage can not be blocked making GTO
asymmetrical.
 Power Electronics Switches

Transistors:
Types:
MOSFET: Metal oxide semiconductor
field effect transistor
BJT: Bipolar junction transistors
IGBTs: Insulated gate bipolar junction
transistor
Transistor drive circuits are designed to
have the transistor either in the fully
on or fully off state. Unlike the diode,
turn on and turn off of transistor are
controllable.
Switching characteristics of BJT
Switching characteristics of BJT
 Power MOSFET
• Developed in 1978
• Generally low voltage, high current device,
• Voltage controlled device
• Majority carrier device hence unipolar device,
• High gate circuit impedance, Gate current required is very small,
• non-latching device, Faster than BJT.
 Types of MOSFET
• Power MOSFETs are of two types ; n-channel enhancement MOSFET and p-channel
enhancement MOSFET.
• MOSFETs are available in two forms
• 1. Depletion Type – the transistor requires the Gate-Source voltage, ( VGS ) to switch the
device “OFF”. The depletion mode MOSFET is equivalent to a “Normally Closed” switch.
• 2. Enhancement Type – the transistor requires a Gate-Source voltage, ( VGS ) to switch the
device “ON”. The enhancement mode MOSFET is equivalent to a “Normally Open” switch.

Out of these two types, n-channel enhancement MOSFET is more common

because of higher mobility of electrons.
 Structure of N channel low power MOSFET

This N channel has large on state resistance which leads to high power
dissipation. Therefore, used for low power application.
 High power MOSFET

• Power MOSFET conduction is due to majority carriers, therefore, time

delays caused by removal or recombination of minority carriers are
eliminated. Thus, power MOSFET can work at switching frequencies in the
megahertz range.
 Transfer characteristics of MOSFET

• Positive/negative voltage applied to the gate (with respect to source)

enhances the number of electrons/holes in the channel and increases
conductivity between source and drain.
• Vtn defines the voltage at which a MOS transistor begins to conduct. For
voltages less than Vtn (threshold voltage), the channel is cut off.
 Output characteristics
• It indicates the variation of drain current ID as a function of drain source
voltage with VGS as a varying parameter
• For low value of VDS characteristics is almost linear indicating constant
value of on resistance
• For given VGS, if VDS increased the characteristics is flat indicating drain
current is constant.
Switching Characteristics
 Important specifications of MOSFET
• Average and peak current ID and Im
• Peak blocking voltage
• ON state resistance
• OFF state current
• Thermal impedance
• Switching times tdon, tr, tdoff, tf, Vgs, Rgs
• Body diode current ISD
• Body diode recovery time trr
• Input capacitances Ciss, Coss, Crss
 Comparison between BJT and MOSFET

S. No. BJT MOSFET

1 Current Controlled device Voltage controlled device

2 Minority carrier device Majority carrier device

It has positive temperature It has positive temperature
coefficient of resistor coefficient of resistor
3 Has secondary breakdown No secondary breakdown
4 Paralleling of devices is difficult Paralleling of devices is difficult
5 On state power loss is less (Vcesat*Ic) On state power loss is high
Turn off time is high (𝐼𝐷2 𝑅𝐷𝑠𝑜𝑁
6 Input power requirement is high Very fast device
7 Input power requirement is low
 Insulated-gate bipolar transistor-IGBT
The IGBT or Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor:
• Combination of BJT and MOSFET.
• Its name also implies the fusion between them. “Insulated Gate” refers to the
input part of MOSFET having very high input impedance.
• It does not draw any input current rather it operates on the voltage at its gate
terminal.
• “Bipolar” refers to the output part of the BJT having bipolar nature where the
current flow is due to both types of charge carriers.
• It allows it to handle very large currents and voltages using small voltage signals.
• This hybrid combination makes the IGBT a voltage-controlled device.
• It is a four-layer PNPN device having three PN junctions.
• It has three terminals Gate (G), Collector(C) and Emitter (E).
• The terminal’s name also implies being taken from both
transistors.
• Gate terminal as it is the input part, taken from MOSFET while
the collector and emitter as they are the output, taken from
the BJT.
 Structure of IGBT
• IGBT is made of four layers of semiconductor to form a PNPN structure.
• A P+ substrate is used for the construction of IGBT.
• An N- layer is placed on top of it to form PN junction J1.
• Two P regions are fabricated on top of N- layer to form PN junction J2.
• The P region is designed in such a way to leave a path in the middle for the
gate (G) electrode. N+ regions are diffused over the P region.
• The collector (C) electrode is attached to P layer while the emitter (E) is
attached between the P and N layers.
 Structure of IGBT
• The emitter and gate are metal electrodes. The emitter is directly
attached to the N+ region while the gate is insulated using a silicon
dioxide layer.
• The base P+ layer inject holes into N- layer that is why it is called
injector layer.
• The N- layer is called the drift region. Its thickness is proportional to
voltage blocking capacity.
• The P layer above N- layer is known as the body of IGBT.
• The N- layer is designed to have a path for current flow between
the emitter and collector through the junction using the channel
that is created under the influence of the voltage at the gate
electrode.
 Equivalent Structure of IGBT
• IGBT is the combination of input of MOSFET and output of BJT.
• it has an equivalent structure to N-channel MOSFET and a PNP BJT in
Darlington configuration.
• The resistance of the drift region can also be incorporated.
As per the structure of the IGBT, there is more than one path for the current to
flow. The current path is directed from collector to emitter.
The first path is “collector, P+ substrate, N-, P, emitter”. This path is already
mentioned using the PNP transistor in an equivalent structure.
The 2nd path is “collector, P+ substrate, N-, P, N+, emitter”. To include this path,
another NPN transistor must be included in the structure as shown in the figure
below.
 Working of IGBT
• Working of IGBT is based on the biasing between Gate-Emitter terminals
and Collector-Emitter terminals.
• The collector-emitter is connected to Vcc such that the collector is kept at
a positive voltage than the emitter. The junction j1 becomes forward
biased and j2 becomes reverse biased. At this point, there is no voltage at
the gate. Due to reverse j2, the IGBT remains switched off and no current
will flow between collector and emitter.
Applying a gate voltage VG positive than the emitter, negative charges will accumulate
right beneath the SiO2 layer due to capacitance. Increasing the VG increases the
number of charges which eventually form a layer when the VG exceeds the threshold
voltage, in the upper P-region. This layer form N-channel that shorts N- drift region
and N+ region.
The electrons from the emitter flow from N+ region into N- drift region. While the
holes from the collector are injected from the P+ region into the N- drift region. Due
to the excess of both electrons and holes in the drift region, its conductivity increase
and starts the conduction of current. Hence the IGBT switches ON.
 Types of IGBT
• Punch through IGBT
• Non Punch through IGBT

• Punch through IGBT

• The Punch through IGBT includes N+ buffer
layer due to which it is also known as an
asymmetrical IGBT. They have asymmetric
voltage blocking capabilities i.e. their
forward and reverse breakdown voltages
are different. Their reverse breakdown
voltage is less than its forward breakdown
voltage. It has faster switching speed.
• Punch through IGBTs is unidirectional and
cannot handle reverse voltages. Therefore,
they are used in DC circuits such as inverters
and chopper circuits.
• Non Punch through IGBT
• They are also known as symmetrical IGBT due to the absence of extra N+
buffer layer. The symmetry in structure provides symmetrical breakdown
voltage characteristics i.e. the forward and reverse breakdown voltages
are equal. Due to this reason, they are used in AC circuits.
 Switching characteristics of IGBT
The turn-on time is defined as the time between the instant of forward blocking to
forward conduction mode. Here, forward conduction means the device conducts in
forward direction. Turn-on time (ton) is basically composed of two different times:
Delay time (tdn) and Rise time (tr) i.e. cton = tdn + tr.
• The delay time is defined as the time for the collector-emitter voltage (VCE) to
fall from VCE to 0.9VCE.
• The collector current rises from initial leakage current to 0.1IC (10%).
• Thus, delay time may also be defined as the time period during which
collector current rises from zero (in fact a small leakage current) to 10% of the
final value of collector current IC.
• The rise time tr is the time during which collector-emitter voltage falls from
0.9VCE to 0.1 VCE.
• This means, during rise time collector-emitter voltage falls to 10% from 90%.
• Therefore, the collector current builds up to final value of collector current
IC from 10%.
• After time ton, the collector current becomes IC and the collector-emitter
voltage drops to very small value called conduction drop (VCES).
Turn-off time comprises of three intervals:
Delay Time, tdf
Initial Fall Time, tf1
Final Fall Time, tf2
• The delay time tdf is the time during which gate voltage falls from VGE to threshold
voltage VGET. The collector current falls from IC to 0.9IC. At the end of delay time,
collector-emitter voltage begins to rise.
• The first fall time tf1 is defined as the time during which collector current falls from
90% to 20% of its final value IC. In other words, it is the time during which collector-
emitter voltage rises from VCES to 0.1VCE.
• The final fall time tf2 is the time during which collector current falls from 20% to 10%
of IC or the time during which collector-emitter voltage rises from 0.1VCE to final value
VCE.
Safe Operating Area
The safe operating area (SOA) is dependent on the factors which ensure that
the IGBT working condition (while being switched) is well inside the
tolerable range of voltage, current and power magnitudes.
It is important to set up the layout of the circuit to ensure that the switching
trajectory of the device during ON and OFF are always within the tolerable
SOA
Absolute Maximum Ratings
Electrical Characteristics
The following data informs us regarding the various terminologies and
parameters involved with IGBT, which are normally used for explaining and
understanding the working of an IGBT in detail.
Insulated-gate bipolar transistor-IGBT
 Static Induction Thyristor
• Static Induction Thyristor generally abbreviated as SITH is a self-
controlled device similar to a GTO. A SITH has three terminals namely
cathode, anode, and gate.

• It was developed in the year 1960 by a Japanese engineer and

commercially introduced in the year 1988.
The key feature:
• It offers the capability of conducting a large current at a low value of
forward voltage.
• Gets turned off quickly.
• It is known to be a normally-on device.
• It is designed to conduct in the on state and block the current in the off
state.
• It is a minority carrier device.
• The on state voltage is low due to thyristor action followed by carrier
injection effect around the gate channel.
• Faster switching speed.
 Comparison between GTO and Static
Induction Thyristor
A static induction thyristor is an advancement of GTO, it
operates in a similar way as GTO, however, there are some
factors that differentiate a static induction thyristor from the
gate turn-off thyristor. The factors are as follows:
• SITH is a device that shows normally-on configuration.
• It gets easily turned off i.e., possesses lower turn-off
current gain, usually between 1 to 3.
• A SITH exhibit a higher value of conduction drop.
• It exhibits a higher switching frequency.
• The rate of change of voltage and current with respect to
time is high.
• It offers a larger safe operating area.
 Structure of SITH
• It is a thyristor based device of 4-layer having PNPN layers.
• It is a p+nn+ diode in which gate electrodes of p+ configuration is buried within the n
layer.

( Curtesy: Electronic Coach)

Turn on Process:
• When positive voltage is connected to anode and gate voltage is
zero, the depletion region is filled with carriers and it behaves like a
pn diode.
• Hence, it is said that SITH is a normally-on device.

( Curtesy: Electronic Coach)

 Turn off Process:
• Under the forward biased condition of the
anode, when the gate terminal is reverse
biased relative to the cathode then it will
cause the formation of a depletion layer at
the p+n junction. Due to this depletion
layer, the anode current now stops flowing
from the anode and cathode. With the
variation in magnitude of negative
potential at the gate terminal, the
magnitude of the anode current flowing
through the device can also be varied.
• In the reverse biased condition of the
static induction thyristor i.e., when the
cathode is made positive wrt anode then a
reverse current from cathode to anode
flows. This is due to the flow of electrons
from anode intermixed n+ layer, towards
the n layer along the p+ grid reaching the
cathode after lastly going through the
n+ region. This corresponds to no reverse ( Curtesy: Electronic Coach)
blocking capability of static induction
thyristor.
 Advantages of SITH

• The device has high immunity for electromagnetic

noise.
• It has high di/dt and dv/dt ratio, capable of handling
rapid voltage or current change.
• It has higher breakdown voltage than FET due to its
vertical structure.
Applications
These mainly find applications in HVDC converters along
with in induction heating, and high-frequency power
conversion, energy accelerator, and current source
inverter.