Power Electronics and Drives

EE042-4-3-PED / VE1

Power Electronics – An Overview

 Topic & Structure of the Lesson

• Power Electronics
• Classification of Power Electronics Circuits
• Power Semiconductor Switches
• Power Diodes
• Power Transistors
• Thyristors

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 Learning Outcome

At the end of this topic,YOU should be able to:

• Analyse the operational principles and concepts of power
electronic devices and their characteristics. (C4, PLO2)

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 Key Terms You Must be Able to Use

• If you have mastered this topic, you should be able

to use the following terms correctly in your
assessments: -
– Power Diodes
– Power Transistors
– Thyristor
– Steady-State Characteristics
– Switching Characteristics

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 Power Electronics

• People do not use electricity, but rather they use

communication, light, mechanical work, entertainment, and all
the tangible benefits of energy and electronics.
• In this sense, electrical engineering as a discipline is much
involved in energy conversion and information.
• This is the framework of power electronics – electrical energy
conversion, applications, and electronic devices.
• Power electronics circuits convert electric power from one
form to another using electronic devices.
• Power electronics circuits function by using semiconductor
devices as switches, thereby controlling or modifying a voltage
or current.
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 Power Electronics

• Power electronics can also be defined as the application of

solid-state electronics for the control and conversion of
electric power.
• Power electronics combines power, electronics, and control.
➢ Control deals with steady-state dynamic characteristic of
close-loop system.
➢ Power deals with static and rotating power equipment for
the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric
energy.
➢ Electronics deals with the solid-state devices and circuits
for signal processing to meet the desired control
objectives.
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 Classification of Power Electronics
Circuits
There are four conversion circuits that are used:
➢ ac-to-ac (cycloconverter)
➢ ac-to-dc (rectifier)
➢ dc-to-ac (inversion)
➢ dc-to-dc (dc chopper)

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 AC-to-AC Conversion

• The ac-ac converter may be used to change the level and/or

frequency of an ac signal.
• Examples include a common light-dimmer circuit and speed
control of an induction motor.

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 AC-to-DC Conversion

• The ac-dc converter produces a dc output from an ac input.

The ac-dc converter is specifically classified as a rectifier.
• For example, an ac-dc converter enables integrated circuits to
operate from a 50-Hz ac line voltage by converting the ac
signal to a dc signal of the appropriate voltage.

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 DC-to-AC Conversion

• The dc-ac converter is classified as an inverter. In the inverter,

average power flows from the dc side to the ac side.
• Examples of inverter applications include producing a 230-V
rms 50-Hz voltage from an array of solar cells.

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 DC-to-DC Conversion

• The dc-dc converter is useful when a load requires a specified

(often regulated) dc voltage or current but the source is at a
different or unregulated dc value.
• For example, 5 V may be obtained from a 12-V source via a
dc-dc converter.

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 Overview of Power Semiconductor
Switches
• Because of the high conversion efficiency, semiconductor
switching devices are considered the heart of power
electronic circuits.
• There are two types of power semiconductor devices: silicon
(Si) and silicon carbide (SiC).
• The earliest devices were made of Si because Si is broadly
available on earth and is cheap.
• The newest devices are made of SiC. SiC-based devices
withstand far higher voltages and temperatures than their Si
counterparts.

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 Overview of Power Semiconductor
Switches
Majority of devices are made of silicon which can be divided into:
➢ Power diodes
▪ General purpose diodes
▪ Fast recovery diodes
▪ Schottky diodes
➢ Power Transistors
▪ Power Bipolar junction transistors (BJTs)
▪ Insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs)
▪ Power Metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs)
➢ Thyristors
▪ Silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs - previously called thyristors)
▪ TRIACS
▪ Gate turn-off (GTO)
▪ MOS-controlled thyristors (MCTs)
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 Power Diodes

• Diode is uncontrollable in that the on and off conditions are

determined by voltages and currents in the circuit.
• Forward-biased region: Diode is forward-biased (ON) when
anode potential is positive with respect to cathode (vd > 0). A
conducting diode has relatively small voltage drop across it.
• Reverse-biased region: It is reverse-biased (OFF) when
cathode potential is positive with respect to anode (vd < 0).
Small leakage current (𝑚A to 𝑢A) flows.
• Breakdown region: When the reverse voltage is higher
than a specified voltage (breakdown voltage), the reverse
current (avalanche current) increases rapidly.

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 V–I Characteristic

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 Switching Characteristic

• Turn on time = t1 + t2
• Turn off time = t3 + t4 + t5
• Forward recovery time = t1 + t2
• Reverse recovery time = trr = t4 + t5
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 Switching Characteristic – Forward
Recovery Time
• Finite times are required for fully turn-on (t1 + t2) and turn-off
(t3 + t4 + t5). This is due to the excess carriers, space charges,
and the bulk semiconductor material.
• (t1 + t2) is sometimes called forward recovery (or turn-on)
time. It is the time required for the diode to achieve steady-
state forward bias from reverse bias.
• It limits the rate of rise of the forward current (diF/dt), where
excessive diF/dt may damage the diode due to localize heating.

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 Switching Characteristic – Reverse
Recovery Time
• When a diode turns off, the current in it decreases and
momentarily becomes negative before becoming zero.
• This is because the minority carriers require a certain time to
recombine with opposite charges and to be neutralized, and
this is called reverse recovery time (trr = t4 + t5) of diode.
• trr is the time interval between the instant the current passes
through zero during the changeover from forward conduction
to reverse blocking condition and the moment the reverse
current has decayed to 25% of its peak reverse value (0.25 Irr).
• trr is dependent on the junction temperature, rate of fall of
the forward current (diR/dt) and forward current

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 Types of Power Diodes
Types General Purpose Fast Recovery Schottky
Advantages Cost-effective, Very low trr Very low forward voltage
high power (<5𝑢s) drop (typical 0.3 – 0.4V)

Current rating Up to 5kA Up to several 1 – 400A

hundreds of ampere
Voltage rating 50 – 5kV 50 – 3kV 100V

Applications low-frequency high frequency low voltage, high current

circuits circuits

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 Power Transistor

• Unlike the diode, turn-on and turn-off of a transistor are

controllable.
• Types of transistors used in power electronics circuits include:
➢ Power bipolar junction transistors (BJTs)
➢ Power metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors
(Power MOSFETs)
➢ Insulated-gate bipolar junction transistors (IGBTs)

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 Power BJTs

• A power BJT is formed by adding a second p- or n- to a pn-

junction diode.
➢ NPN-transistor: two n-regions and one p-region.
➢ PNP-transistor: two p-regions and one n-region.
• BJT is a current-controlled device which requires complex
base drive circuit to provide the base current during on-state.
• Applications: High frequency (up to 50kHz)

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 Steady-State Characteristic

• Power BJTs are operated as switches in power electronics

circuits. BJT is either in the fully on or fully off state.
• Switching power electronics systems require BJTs to operate
in either the saturation region where VCE is small or in the cut
off region where the current is zero and the voltage is uphold
by the device.
• This differs from small signal transistor applications operating
as a linear amplifier (active region or constant current region).

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 Steady-State Characteristic

Active region

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 Steady-State Characteristic

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 Steady-State Characteristic

• There are 3 main operating regions of a BJT:

• Cutoff region: The BJT is off or the base current (𝐼𝐵 ) is not
enough to turn it on and both junctions (collector-base and
base-emitter) are reverse biased.
• Active region: The BJT acts as an amplifier where 𝐼𝐵 is
amplified by a gain and the collector-emitter voltage (𝑉𝐶𝐸 )
decreases with 𝐼𝐵 . Collector-base junction is reverse biased
and the base-emitter junction is forward biased.
• Saturation region: The 𝐼𝐵 is sufficiently high so that the 𝑉𝐶𝐸 is
low, and the transistor acts as a switch. Both junctions are
forwards biased.

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 Steady-State Characteristic

• When 𝑉𝐶𝐸 ≥ 𝑉𝐵𝐸 , the CBJ is reverse biased and the transistor
is in the active region.
• The maximum collector current (𝐼𝐶𝑀 ) in the active region,
which can be obtained by setting 𝑉𝐶𝐵 = 0 and 𝑉𝐵𝐸 = 𝑉𝐶𝐸
𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝑉𝐶𝐸 𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝑉𝐵𝐸
𝐼𝐶𝑀 = =
𝑅𝐶 𝑅𝐶

• The corresponding base current is

𝐼𝐶𝑀
𝐼𝐵𝑀 =
𝛽𝐹

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 Steady-State Characteristic

• If 𝐼𝐵 > 𝐼𝐵𝑀 , 𝑉𝐵𝐸 increases, the collector current increases and

𝑉𝐶𝐸 falls below 𝑉𝐵𝐸 .
• This continues until the CBJ is forward biases with 𝑉𝐵𝐶 of
about 0.4 to 0.5V. The transistor then goes into saturation.
• In the saturation, the collector current remain almost
constant. If the collector-emitter saturation voltage is 𝑉𝐶𝐸(𝑠𝑎𝑡) ,
the collector current is
𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝑉𝐶𝐸(𝑠𝑎𝑡)
𝐼𝐶𝑆 =
𝑅𝐶
• The base current is
𝐼𝐶𝑆
𝐼𝐵𝑆 =
𝛽𝐹
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 Steady-State Characteristic

• Normally, the circuit is designed so that 𝐼𝐵 is higher than 𝐼𝐵𝑆 .

The ratio of 𝐼𝐵 to 𝐼𝐵𝑆 is overdrive factor (ODF):
𝐼𝐵
𝑂𝐷𝐹 =
𝐼𝐵𝑆
• The ratio of 𝐼𝐶𝑆 to 𝐼𝐵 is
𝐼𝐶𝑆
𝛽𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑑 =
𝐼𝐵

• The total power loss in the two junction is

𝑃𝑇 = 𝑉𝐵𝐸 𝐼𝐵 + 𝑉𝐶𝐸 𝐼𝐶

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 Example

The BJT is specified to have 𝛽𝐹 in the range of 8 to 40. 𝑅𝐶 =

11Ω, 𝑉𝐶𝐶 = 200𝑉, 𝑉𝐵 = 10𝑉. If 𝑉𝐶𝐸(𝑠𝑎𝑡) = 1.0𝑉 and 𝑉𝐵𝐸(𝑠𝑎𝑡) =
1.5𝑉, find
(a) The value of 𝑅𝐵 that results in saturation with an ODF of 5.
(b) The 𝛽𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑑 .
(c) The power loss.

(0.7514Ω, 1.6, 35.07W)

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 Switching Characteristic

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 Switching Characteristic

• A forward-biased pn-junction exhibits two parallel

capacitances: a depletion-layer capacitance and a diffusion
capacitance.
• Due to internal capacitances, the transistor does not turn on
instantly. As 𝑣𝑏 and 𝑖𝑏 rises to 𝑉1 and 𝐼𝐵1 respectively, 𝑖𝐶 does
not respond immediately.
• There is a delay, known as delay time, 𝑡𝑑 . This delay is required
to charge up the 𝐶𝐵𝐸 to the forward bias voltage 𝑉𝐵𝐸 .
• After the delay, 𝑖𝐶 rises to the steady-state value, 𝐼𝐶𝑆 . The rise
time (𝑡𝑟 ) depends on the time constant determined by 𝐶𝐵𝐸 .

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 Switching Characteristic

• 𝑖𝑏 is normally more than that required to saturate the

transistor. As a result, the excess minority carrier charge is
stored in the base region.
• The higher the ODF, the higher is the amount of extra charge
stored in the base. This extra charge is called saturating
charge.
• When 𝑣𝑏 and 𝑖𝑏 is reversed from 𝑉1 and 𝐼𝐵1 to −𝑉2 and −𝐼𝐵2
respectively, 𝑖𝐶 does not change for a time 𝑡𝑠 , called storage
time.
• 𝑡𝑠 is required to remove the saturating charge from the base.

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 Switching Characteristic

• The higher the collector current, the higher is the base

current and it will take longer time to recover the stored
charges causing a higher storage time.
• Once the extra charge is removed, the 𝐶𝐵𝐸 charges to −𝑉2 ,
and 𝑖𝑏 falls to zero.
• The fall time 𝑡𝑓 depends on the time constant, which is
determined by the capacitance of the reverse-biased base-
emitter junction.

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 Steady-State Characteristic

• Primary breakdown: Due to conventional avalanche of the

collector–base junction and the attendant large flow of
current.
• Secondary breakdown: If high voltage and current occur
simultaneously during turn off, a hot spot is formed and the
device fails by thermal runaway.
• Quasi saturation: Such feature is a consequence of the lightly
doped collector drift region where the collector–base
junction supports a low reverse bias.

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 Safe Operating Area (SOA)

SOA is area which maximum values of current and voltage to

which the device should be subjected to.

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 Safe Operating Area (SOA)

• Forward-bias SOA (FBSOA) - when IB > 0, used for turn-on,

and on-state considerations.
• Reverse-bias SOA (RBSOA) - when IB < 0, used for turn-off
and off-state considerations.
• SOA is bound by four limits: current, voltage, thermal, and
secondary breakdown.

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 Power MOSFETs

• A power MOSFET is a voltage-controlled device.

• It does not have secondary breakdown phenomena.
• The switching speed is very high, switching time is of the
order of nanoseconds.
• Applications: Low-power and high frequency
• However, MOSFETs have the problems of electrostatic
discharge and require special care in handling.

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 Power MOSFETs

• There are 2 types of power MOSFETs.

➢ Depletion MOSFET
▪ N-channel
▪ P-channel
➢ Enhancement MOSFET
▪ N-channel
▪ P-channel
• Enhancement-type devices are preferred in power electronics
applications, because they are OFF at zero gate-source
voltage. (Depletion-type remains ON even at zero gate-
source voltage)

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 Steady-State Characteristic

• The transconductance, which is the ratio of drain current to

gate voltage, defines the transfer characteristic and is a very
important parameter.
• The slope of the curve is called transconductance, gm.

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 Steady-State Characteristic

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 Steady-State Characteristic

• There are 3 main operating regions of Power MOSFET:

• Cutoff region (𝑉𝐺𝑆 ≤ 𝑉𝑇 ): The MOSFET is off or 𝑉𝐺𝑆 is not
enough to turn it on.
• Linear region (𝑉𝐷𝑆 ≤ 𝑉𝐺𝑆 − 𝑉𝑇 ): 𝐼𝐷 is proportional to 𝑉𝐷𝑆 . The
power MOSFET is operated in the linear region for switching
applications.
• Pinch off or saturation region (𝑉𝐷𝑆 ≥ 𝑉𝐺𝑆 − 𝑉𝑇 ): 𝐼𝐷 remains
almost constant for any increase in 𝑉𝐷𝑆 and the transistor is
used for voltage amplification. In order to operate in linear
region, 𝑉𝐺𝑆 must be higher so that 𝑉𝐷𝑆 < 𝑉𝐺𝑆 − 𝑉𝑇 .

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 Switching Characteristic

• There are 3 parasitic capacitances: Cgs, Cgd and Cds.

➢ Input capacitance, Ciss = Cgd + Cgs (Cds is shorted)
➢ Output capacitance, Coss = Cgd + Cds (Cgs is shorted)
➢ Reverse transfer capacitance, Crss = Cgd
• Ciss is of a few nF and Crss < Coss < Ciss.
• Even though Cgs >> Cgd, Cgd undergoes a much larger voltage
excursion, so its effect on switching time cannot be neglected.

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 Switching Characteristic

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 Switching Characteristic

• In steady state, MOSFET requires no gate current since the

gate is highly capacitive. However, during switching, significant
amount of current is required to charge or discharge the gate
capacitance.
• MOSFETs have good switching characteristics because there
is no storage delay caused by the minority carrier, and no
variation caused by the temperature
• Turn-on and turn-off delays are defined between VGS and ID
with the 10% and 90% of the maximums as references

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 Switching Characteristic

• Turn-on delay 𝑡𝑑(𝑜𝑛) : The time that is required to charge the

input capacitance to threshold voltage level.
• Rise time 𝑡𝑟 : The gate-charging time from the threshold level
to full gate voltage, which is required to drive the MOSFET
into the linear region.
• Turn-off delay 𝑡𝑑(𝑜𝑓𝑓) : The time required for the input
capacitance to discharge from the overdrive gate voltage V1 to
the pinch-off region. VGS must be decrease significantly before
VDS begins to rise.
• Fall time 𝑡𝑓 : Time that is required for the input capacitance to
discharge from the pinch-off region to threshold voltage. If
𝑉𝐺𝑆 ≤ 𝑉𝑇 , the MOSFET is OFF.
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 Safe Operating Area (SOA)

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 Safe Operating Area (SOA)

• MOSFET SOAs are bound by 3 limits: current or package,

thermal and voltage.
• MOSFET does not have any secondary breakdown limitations
as does the BJT. It is because MOSFETs have positive
temperature coefficient of resistivity.
• The RBSOA (negative gate voltage in this case) is identical
with the FBSOA.

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 IGBT

• IGBT combines the advantages of the BJT and the MOSFET.

• IGBT has high input impedance of MOSFET and low on-state
voltage drop of the BJT.
• It has low conduction and switching losses, simple gate-drive
circuit and peak current capability of the MOSFET. IGBT has
no second breakdown problem.
• IGBTs are replacing power MOSFETs in high-voltage
applications. The switching speed of an IGBT is faster than a
BJT but is slower than MOSFETs.

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 Steady-State Characteristic

The steady-state characteristics appears similar to that of BJT

except that the controlling parameter is an input voltage.

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 Steady-State Characteristic

• The transfer characteristics of IGBT and MOSFET are similar.

The IGBT is in the off-state if the VGE < VGE(TH).
• For VGE > VGE(TH), the transfer curve is linear over most of the
drain current range.

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 Switching Characteristic

• Similar to MOSFET, there are 3 parasitic capacitances in IGBT:

Cgc, Cge and Cce.
• Even though Cge >> Cgc, the later capacitance undergoes a
much larger voltage excursion, so its effect on switching time
cannot be neglected.
• The capacitance variations with VGE and VCE are about the
same as those of MOSFET.
• The shapes of the switching waveforms are about the same
as power MOSFET.

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 Safe Operating Area (SOA)

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 Safe Operating Area (SOA)

• The FBSOA is identical to that of the power MOSFET.

• The RBSOA (for turn-off) is different from the FBSOA.
• The allowable maximum temperature,TJ(max) is 150ºC.
• The maximum collector current can be 4 to 10 times the
nominal rated current for 5 - 10μs depending on the value of
VCE.

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 Comparison of BJT, MOSFET, IGBT

Features BJT MOSFET IGBT

Drive method Current Voltage Voltage
Drive circuit Complex Simple Simple
Input impedance Low High High
On-state voltage drop Low High Medium
Switching speed Slow (us) Fast (ns) Medium
Operating frequency Low (<100 kHz) Fast (<1 MHz) Medium
SOA Narrow Wide Wide
Saturation voltage Low High Low

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 Thyristor

• Thyristors are four-layer PNPN power semiconductor devices

with three PN junctions and three terminals: anode, cathode
and gate.
• Thyristors are pulse-triggered devices, used as bistable
switches and considered as nearly the ideal switches. They are
latching devices.
• They are mainly designed for power control applications.

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 Thyristor

• Advantages: High power handling capability, low on-state

conduction losses and requiring very low triggering power.
• Disadvantage: Low switching frequencies and high switching
losses.
• Thyristors family:
➢ SCRs
TRIAC
➢ TRIACs
SCR
➢ GTOs
➢ MCTs

GTO MCT

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 Steady-State Characteristic

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 Steady-State Characteristic

• For +𝑉𝐴𝐾 , 𝐽1 and 𝐽3 are forward biased while 𝐽2

is reverse biased. Small leakage current flows
from anode (𝐴) to cathode (𝐾).
• The thyristor is said to be in forward blocking or
off-state condition.
• If 𝑉𝐴𝐾 increased to a sufficiently large value, 𝐽2
breaks and this is known as avalanche
breakdown. The corresponding voltage is called
forward breakdown voltage, 𝑉𝐵𝑂 .
• The thyristor is then in a conducting state or on-
state. Practically, 𝑉𝐴𝐾 < 𝑉𝐵𝑂 and the thyristor is
turned on by applying a positive gate voltage.
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 Steady-State Characteristic

• In on-state, the anode current 𝐼𝐴 is limited by external

resistance.
• 𝐼𝐴 must be more than a value known as latching current 𝐼𝐿
to stay in on-state. Otherwise, it reverts to the off-state as
𝑉𝐴𝐾 is reduced.
• 𝐼𝐿 is the minimum 𝐼𝐴 required to maintain the thyristor in
the on-state immediately after a thyristor has been turned
on and the gate signal has been removed.
• However, if 𝐼𝐴 is reduced below holding current 𝐼𝐻 , the
thyristor is in the blocking state. 𝐼𝐻 is the minimum 𝐼𝐴 to
maintain the thyristor in the on-state. 𝐼𝐻 < 𝐼𝐿 .

EE042-4-3-Power Electronics & Drives Ch1-Power Electronics – An Overview Slide 59

 Steady-State Characteristic

• For −𝑉𝐴𝐾 , 𝐽2 is forward biased but 𝐽1 and 𝐽3 are reverse

biased.
• The thyristor is in the reverse blocking state and a reverse
leakage current flows through the device.
• All thyristors can be turned off either by AC line voltage
(natural or line commutation) or by a commutation circuit
(forced commutation).
• But GTOs can also be turned off via the gate.

EE042-4-3-Power Electronics & Drives Ch1-Power Electronics – An Overview Slide 60

 Switching Characteristic

td(on) = turn-on delay time; time

required for charge injection by iG.

tr = time required for anode current to

reach on-state value. diA/dt is limited
by external inductance.

EE042-4-3-Power Electronics & Drives Ch1-Power Electronics – An Overview Slide 61

 Switching Characteristic

• Thyristor turn-off characteristic is

similar to power diode.
• Require longer time (the longest
among all the switching parameter)
to completely turn off (μs)
• diA/dt is controlled by external
inductance
• Reverse recovery is required similar
to power diodes.

EE042-4-3-Power Electronics & Drives Ch1-Power Electronics – An Overview Slide 62

 Comparison of Power Switches

EE042-4-3-Power Electronics & Drives Ch1-Power Electronics – An Overview Slide 63

 Quick Review Questions

• What are the characteristics of power diodes?

• What are the characteristics of power transistors?
• What are the characteristics of thyristors?

EE042-4-3-Power Electronics & Drives Ch1-Power Electronics – An Overview Slide 64

 Summary of Main Teaching Points

• The characteristics of power diodes.

• The characteristics of power transistors.
• The characteristics of thyristors.

EE042-4-3-Power Electronics & Drives Ch1-Power Electronics – An Overview Slide 65

 Question and Answer Session

Q&A

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 What We Will Cover Next?

• Power Losses

EE042-4-3-Power Electronics & Drives Ch1-Power Electronics – An Overview Slide 67