Power Electronics

Dr. Attique Ur Rehman

Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology
Introduction
 Power transistors have controlled turn-on and turn-off characteristics. The transistors, which are
used as switching elements, are operated in the saturation region, resulting in a low on-state
voltage drop.
 The switching speed of modern transistors is much higher than that of thyristors and they are
extensively employed in dc–dc and dc–ac converters, with inverse parallel-connected diodes to
provide bidirectional current flow. However, their voltage and current ratings are lower than
those of thyristors and transistors are normally used in low- to medium-power applications.
 With the development of power semiconductor technology, the ratings of power transistors are
continuously being improved.
 IGBTs are being increasingly used in high-power applications.
 The power transistors can be classified broadly into five categories:
 Metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs)
 CoolMOS
 Bipolar junction transistors (BJTs)
 Insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs)
 Static induction transistors (SITs)
Gating Circuit
 The gating circuit is an integral part of a power converter that consists of power semiconductor
devices.
 The output of a converter that depends on how the gating circuit drives the switching devices is a
direct function of the switching.
 Therefore, the characteristics of the gating circuit are key elements in achieving the desired output and
the control requirements of any power converter.
 The design of a gating circuit requires knowledge of gate characteristics and needs of such devices
as thyristors, gate-turn-off thyristors, bipolar junction transistors, metal oxide semiconductor
field-effect transistors, and insulated-gate bipolar transistors.
Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)
 The bipolar junction transistor (BJT) consists of a three-region structure of n-type and p-type
semiconductor materials, it can be constructed as npn as well as pnp.
 A bipolar transistor is formed by adding a second p- or n-region to a pn-junction diode.
 With two n-regions and one p-region, two junctions are formed, and it is known as an NPN-transistor.
 With two p-regions and one n-region, it is called as a PNP-transistor.
 The three terminals are named as collector, emitter, and base. A bipolar transistor has two junctions,
collector-base junction and base-emitter junction.
Characteristics
 Three possible configurations - Common Collector, Common Base, and Common Emitter
 The common-emitter configuration is generally used in switching applications.

 For a PNP-transistor, the polarities of all currents and voltages are reversed.
Characteristics
 Three operating regions of a transistor: cutoff, active, and
saturation.
 In the cutoff region, the transistor is off or the base current is not
enough to turn it on and both junctions are reverse biased.
 In the active region, the transistor acts as an amplifier, where the
base current is amplified by a gain and the collector-emitter
voltage decreases with the base current. The collector-base
junction is reverse biased, and the base-emitter junction is
forward biased.
 In the saturation region, the base current is sufficiently high so
that the collector-emitter voltage is low, and the transistor acts as
a switch. Both junctions are forward biased.
Power BJT
 The need for a large blocking voltage in the off state and a high current carrying capability in the
on state means that a power BJT must have substantially different structure than its small signal
equivalent.
 The modified structure leads to significant differences in the I-V characteristics and switching
behavior between power transistors and its logic level counterpart.
 A power transistor is a vertically oriented four-layer structure of alternating p-type and n-type.
The vertical structure is preferred because it maximizes the cross-sectional area and through
which the current in the device is flowing. This also minimizes on-state resistance and thus power
dissipation in the transistor.

 The drift layer increases the voltage blocking capacity

of the transistor due to low doping level.
 The width of this layer decides the breakdown voltage.
Power BJT Characteristics
 The power BJT is never operated in the active region (i.e., as
an amplifier) it is always operated between cutoff and
saturation.
 The BVSUS is the maximum collector to emitter voltage that can be
sustained when BJT is carrying substantial collector current. The
BVCEO is the maximum collector to emitter breakdown voltage
that can be sustained when base current is zero and BV CBO is the
collector base breakdown voltage when the emitter is open
circuited.

 A transistor is said to be in a quasi-saturation region if and only if the switching speed from on to off or off
to on is fast. This type of saturation is observed in the medium-frequency application.
 Whereas in a hard saturation region the transistor requires a certain amount of time to switch from on to
off or off to on state. This type of saturation is observed in the low-frequency applications.
 The primary breakdown takes place because of avalanche breakdown of collector base junction. Large
power dissipation normally leads to primary breakdown. The second breakdown shown is due to localized
thermal runaway.
Transistor as a Switch
The transistor saturation may be defined as the point above
which any increase in the base current does not increase the
collector current significantly.

The ratio of IB to IBS is called the overdrive factor ODF

Base overdrive factor is the measure of how far

into saturation a transistor is driven that is, how
The ratio of ICS to IB is called forced β much the base current is above that which is
essential to bring the transistor to the edge of
saturation (that is, the boundary between
saturation and forward active region).
Numerical Problem #1
Numerical Problem #1
Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
 Unlike the bipolar junction transistor (BJT), the Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
(MOSFET) device belongs to the Unipolar Device family, since it uses only the majority carriers in
conduction.
 Most of the MOSFET devices used in power electronics applications are of the n-channel,
enhancement-type
 A power MOSFET is a voltage-controlled device and requires only a small input current. The
switching speed is very high and the switching times are of the order of nanoseconds. Power
MOSFETs find increasing applications in low-power high-frequency converters. MOSFETs do not
have the problems of second breakdown phenomena as do BJTs.
 The two types of MOSFETs are
 Depletion MOSFETs
 Enhancement MOSFETs
Depletion MOSFET

 Three terminals - Gate, Drain, and Source.

 An n-channel depletion-type MOSFET is formed on a p-type silicon substrate with two heavily
doped n+ silicon sections for low resistance connections. The gate is isolated from the channel by
a thin oxide layer.
 The substrate is normally connected to the source. The gate-to-source voltage VGS could be either
positive or negative.
 If VGS is negative, some of the electrons in the n-channel area are repelled and a depletion region is
created below the oxide layer, resulting in a narrower effective channel and a high resistance from the
drain to source RDS. If VGS is made negative enough, the channel becomes completely depleted, offering
a high value of RDS, and no current flows from the drain to source, IDS = 0. The value of VGS when this
happens is called pinchoff voltage VP.
 On the other hand, if VGS is made positive, the channel becomes wider, and I DS increases due to
Depletion MOSFET

 With a p-channel depletion-type MOSFET, the polarities of V DS, IDS, and VGS are reversed.
Enhancement MOSFET

 An n-channel enhancement-type MOSFET has no physical channel.

 If VGS is positive, an induced voltage attracts the electrons from the p-substrate and accumulates
them at the surface beneath the oxide layer. If VGS is greater than or equal to a value known as
threshold voltage VT, a sufficient number of electrons are accumulated to form a virtual n-
channel, and the current flows from the drain to source.
Enhancement MOSFET

 The polarities of VDS, IDS, and VGS are reversed for a p-channel enhancement-type MOSFET.
Characteristics
 The MOSFETs are voltage-controlled devices and have a very high input impedance. The gate
draws a very small leakage current, on the order of nanoamperes. The current gain, which is the
ratio of drain current ID to input gate current IG, is typically on the order of 109. However, the
current gain is not an important parameter. The transconductance, which is the ratio of drain
current to gate voltage, defines the transfer characteristics and is a very important parameter.
Characteristics
 Output characteristics of an n-channel enhancement MOSFET

The load line of a MOSFET with a load resistance RD

Region of Operation
 There are three regions of operation
 Cutoff region, where VGS < VT
 Pinch-off or Saturation region, where VDS > VGS - VT
 Linear region, where VD < VGS - VT
The pinch-off occurs at VDS = VGS – VT

Under both regions of operation, the gate current is almost zero. This is
why the MOSFET is known as a voltage-driven device, and therefore,
requires simple gate control circuit.

 In the linear region, the drain current ID varies in proportion to the drain–source voltage VDS. Due
to high drain current and low drain voltage, the power MOSFETs are operated in the linear region
for switching actions. In the saturation region, the drain current remains almost constant for any
increase in the value of VDS and the transistors are used in this region for voltage amplification. It
should be noted that saturation has the opposite meaning to that for bipolar transistors.
Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
 Because a depletion MOSFET remains on at zero gate voltage, whereas an enhancement-type
MOSFET remains off at zero gate voltage, the enhancement-type MOSFETS are generally used as
switching devices in power electronics.
 In order to reduce the on-state resistance by having a larger current conducting area, the V-type
structure is commonly used for power MOSFETs. The cross section of a power MOSFET known as
a vertical (V) MOSFET is shown.
MOSFET Internal Body Diode
 The modern power MOSFET has an internal diode called a body diode connected between the
source and the drain.
 This diode provides a reverse direction for the drain current, allowing a bi-directional switch
implementation.
 Even though the MOSFET body diode has adequate current and switching speed ratings, in some
power electronic applications that require the use of ultra-fast diodes, an external fast recovery
diode is added in anti-parallel fashion after blocking the body diode by a slow recovery diode
MOSFET Thermal Stability
 MOSFET has a positive temperature coefficient of resistance, hence secondary breakdown does
not occur in MOSFET.
 Secondary Breakdown occurs in BJT because it exhibits negative temperature coefficient. As BJT has a
negative temperature coefficient, with the decrease in resistance, the current increases. This increased
current over the same area results in hot spots. Hence, the secondary breakdown occurs in BJT.

1 2

T2↑ R2↑ I2↓ I1↑ T1↑ R1↑ I1↓ I2↑

 Numerical Problem #2
A power MOSFET has VDD = 20 V, RL = 0.5 Ω, at VGS = 8 V, the on-state resistance is
0.1 Ω. Determine the values of load current, device voltage drop, load power and
circuit efficiency.
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor
 The Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) is a hybrid or also known as double mechanism
device. Its control port resembles a MOSFET and its output or power port resembles a BJT.
 IGBT combines the physics of both BJT and power MOSFET to gain the advantages of both worlds.
It is controlled by the gate voltage.
 It has the high input impedance like a power MOSFET and has low on-state power loss as in case of BJT.
There is no even secondary breakdown and not have long switching time as in case of BJT. It has better
conduction characteristics as compared to MOSFET due to bipolar nature. It has no body diode as in
case of MOSFET but this can be seen as an advantage to use external fast recovery diode for specific
applications. They are replacing the MOSFET for most of the high voltage applications with less
conduction losses.

The control terminal is labeled as gate (G) and

the power terminals are labeled as collector (C)
and emitter (E).

Voltage Controlled Bipolar Device

Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor
 Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor

 When gate is applied (VGS >VGSth )MOSFET turns

on. This gives the base drive to T1. Therefore, T1
starts conducting. The collector of T1 is base of
T2. Therefore, regenerative action takes place
and large number of carriers are injected into the
n− drift region. This reduces the ON-state loss of
IGBT just like BJT.
 When gate drive is removed IGBT is turn-off.
When gate is removed the induced channelwill
vanish and internal MOSFET will turn-off.
Therefore, T1 will turn-off it T2 turns off.
Characteristics
Comparison