Chapter 2

Switching Concepts and Semiconductor Overview

 Objectives of Lecture

• Switch realizations
• Objective is to focus on terminal characteristics
– Blocking capability
– Conduction direction
• Device loss mechanisms
• Qualitative relationships between
– On state resistance
– Breakdown Voltage
– Switching Time
• Survey of some commonly available commercial products
• Comparison of Switching Devices
Switch Classifications
 Switch Realizations-Power Diode

• Passive means no active means of control

• Device conducts in forward direction in response to positive forward
voltages
• Devices turns off with negative forward voltage
 Switch Realizations-BJT/IGBT

• Active-controlled turn on and turn off

• BJT conduct in forward direction in response to control current at C
• IGBT conduct in forward direction in response to control voltage at C (wrt terminal 0)
• Devices turns off when control signal removed
 Switch Realizations-MOSFET

• Active-controlled turn on and turn off

• MOSFETs conduct in forward direction
in response to control voltage at C (wrt
terminal 0)
• Devices turns off when control signal
removed
Switch Realizations-SPST
Switch Realizations-BJT and Diode
Switch Realizations-
Anti-parallel Diode

•Usually an active switch,

controlled by terminal C

•Normally operated as two-

quadrant switch :

•Can conduct positive or

negative on-state current

•can block positive off-state

voltage

•provided that the intended on-

state and the off-state
operating
points lie on the composite i-v
characteristic, then switch can
be realized as shown
Switch Realizations-
MOSFET Body Diode
 Switch Realizations-
Bidirectional Voltage Blocking-SCR

•Usually an active switch,

controlled by terminal C

•Normally operated as two-

quadrant switch :

•Can block positive off-state

voltage

•Provided that the intended on-

state and the off-state
operating
points lie on the composite i-v
characteristic, then switch can
be realized as shown

• Thyristor family also has this i-v characteristic

– Silicon Controller Rectifier (SCR)
– Gate Turn Off Thyristor (GTO)
 Power Diode Overview

• Diode
– Minority carrier device
– Passively controlled device
– Controlled by external circuitry
• Forward Bias to turn on
• Reverse Bias to turn off
– Relatively low on state conduction losses
– Turn-on is to charge the depletion
capacitor across the pn-junction
– Turn-off is more complex.
Diode Switching Characteristics
Conventional
Diode Switching Characteristics
Fast Recovery Type
Survey of Commercial Power Diodes
 General Comments on Power Diodes

• Inverse Relationship between Blocking voltage/Forward

current and reverse recovery time/forward voltage drop
• Generally, Diode turn on fast enough to be considered ideal
• Device turn off generally considered ideal but can effect
circuit operation
– Diode turn off means negative current needed to remove
stored charge
• This charge removal is required for device turn off
• In some instances, this negative current and delay
can have an effect on circuit operation
• Can result in inductive ringing (particularly when
fast recovery used in an inductive environment)
• When required, series diodes add to blocking capability
 Thyristors - Overview

• Thyristors
– “Controlled diode”
– In off state, can block positive forward polarity voltage
and thus not conduct
– Can be trigger into the on state by providing a short
pulse of gate current provided that device is in forward
blocking state
– Once device begins to conduct, it is LATCHED on and
gate current can be removed
 Thyristors -SCR

• Silicon Controlled Rectifier

– Once device begins to conduct, it is LATCHED
Anode (A)
iA
on and gate current can be removed
– Cannot be turned off by active control (activity
at gate)
ig
– When current reduces and tries to go to
Cathode (K) negative, device turns off
(a) Circuit symbol – External circuit must reverse bias the SCR to
achieve turn off
– After turn off, gate regains control allowing
active turn on once the device is in forward
blocking state
 Thyristors -SCR Symbol and
Terminal Characteristics
iA
Anode (A)
iA Forward
blocking
region ig3>ig2>ig1

ig5 ig4 ig3 ig2 ig1 ig=0

ig Latching current
Max reverse
Cathode (K) vAK voltage Holding current

Forward vAK
(a) Circuit symbol Reverse Reverse breakover
avalanche blocking voltage
region region

iA

Forward current
ON carrying(ON)

Reverse voltage
Forward voltage
blocking
blocking(OFF)

vAK
 Commercial SCR Survey

Product Package Circuit VDRM IT(RMS)

ST180C04C0 TO-200AA (A-Puk) DISCRETE 400 660
ST230C04C0 TO-200AA (A-Puk) DISCRETE 400 780
ST280C04C0 TO-200AA (A-Puk) DISCRETE 400 960
ST280C06C0 TO-200AA (A-Puk) DISCRETE 600 960
ST280CH06C0 TO-200AA (A-Puk) DISCRETE 600 1130
ST230C08C0 TO-200AA (A-Puk) DISCRETE 800 780
ST180C08C0 TO-200AA (A-Puk) DISCRETE 800 660
ST180C12C0 TO-200AA (A-Puk) DISCRETE 1200 660
ST230C12C0 TO-200AA (A-Puk) DISCRETE 1200 780
ST230C14C0 TO-200AA (A-Puk) DISCRETE 1400 780
ST230C16C0 TO-200AA (A-Puk) DISCRETE 1600 780
ST180C16C0 TO-200AA (A-Puk) DISCRETE 1600 660
ST180C18C0 TO-200AA (A-Puk) DISCRETE 1800 660
ST180C20C0 TO-200AA (A-Puk) DISCRETE 2000 660
 General Comments on SCRs

• Used to be device of choice for high power applications

• SCR based Phase Controlled Rectifiers still common in
three-phase industrial environment
• A minority carrier device
• SCR has highest blocking voltage and current carrying
capabilities of all the semiconductor switches
• Large reverse recovery current
• Long carrier lifetimes allow low on state resistance but
mean long turn off times
– Switching very slow
• Newer designs rarely use SCRs unless very high power
required
– Most newer designs use MOSFETs or IGBTs
 Thyristors -Triac

• Triac
A(Anode)
– “Back to back” SCR
– Bidirectional current flow,
SCR1 SCR2 bidirectional voltage blocking
– Often used:
G(Gate)
• AC waveform chopping:
K(Cathode)
dimmers, soldering stations,
controlled heating elements
 Thyristors -GTO

• Gate Turn Off Thyristor

– Like SCR, once device begins to conduct, it is
LATCHED on and gate current can be
A
removed
iA + – Unlike SCR, GTO can be turned off with a
vAK negative gate-cathode voltage (i.e. active turn
G off control)
iG _
– This negative gate current pulse can be short
duration but must be large magnitude (~ .33
iA )
– A controlled switch like BJT/MOSFET but
not suitable for inductive turn off
– Slow switching time (fs max ~10 kHz)
 BJT - Overview

iC • Bipolar Junction Transistor

+ – A minority carrier device
iB
vCE – Current controlled
• Requires a continuous base current to remain
_ in on (conducting) state
– Significant delays during turn off
transition
– On-state resistance has negative
temperature characteristic so device
paralleling not always straightforward
 BJT Symbol and i-v
Characteristics

iC
+ iC Saturation(ON-state)
iB
vCE

_
Active region Increasing
base
current

iC Cut-OFF(OFF-state)
vCE
ON-state

OFF-state

vCE

Ideal switch characteristics

 General Comments on BJT

• BJT has been replaced by MOSFET in low-voltage (<500V)

applications
• BJT is being replaced by IGBT in applications at voltages
above 500V
• Design trade off between on-state losses and switching
times
• A minority-carrier device: compared with MOSFET, the
BJT exhibits slower switching, but lower on-resistance at
high voltages
 MOSFET Overview

• Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect

Transistor
Drain(D) – A majority carrier device
iD – Voltage controlled
-
+ • Require continuous application of Gate to
VGD VDS Source voltage to maintain on-state
+ (conduction)
-
Gate(G)
+
VGS - Source(S)
– No gate current flows except during
transitions to charge and discharge gate
capacitance
– Very short switching times
– On-state resistance has positive
temperature coefficient so device
paralleling simple
 MOSFET Symbol and i-v
Characteristics
Drain(D)

iD
-
+ iD
VGD VDS
+
-
Gate(G)
+
VGS - Source(S)
vGS
1 Increasing
Slope 
rO
iD

ON-state

OFF-state
vDS
0
vDS

Ideal switch characteristics

 Survey of Commercially Available
MOSFETs

Part Number Rated Max. Voltage Rated Avg. Current Ron Qg(typical)
IRFZ48 60V 50A 0.018 110nC
IRF510 100V 5.6A 0.54 8.3nC
IRF540 100V 28A 0.077 72nC
APT10M25BNR 100V 75A 0.025 171nC
IRF740 400V 10A 0.55 63nC
MTM15N40E 400V 15A 0.3 110nC
APT5025BN 500V 23A 0.25 83nC
APT1001RBNR 1000V 11A 1.0 150nC
 General Comments on MOSFET

• Majority carrier device: fast switching times

• Typical switching frequencies: tens and hundreds of kHz
• On state losses rise more rapidly with blocking voltage than
in a comparable BJT
• Easy to drive
• The device of choice for blocking voltages less than 500V
• 1000V devices are available, but are useful only at low
power levels (100W)
• Generally, on state resistance most significant factor when
selecting device
 IGBT Overview

• Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor

– Combination of BJT and MOSFET
• Like MOSFET, has high impedance gate
which requires small charge to turn on
• Like BJT, small on state resistance even for
devices with large blocking voltage ratings
– Can be designed to block negative
voltages like thysistors
IGBT Symbol and i-v
Characteristics
iD

vGS
1 Increasing
Slope 
rO

vDS
0

iD

ON-state

OFF-state OFF-state

vDS

Ideal switch characteristics

Survey of Commercially Available
IGBTs
 General Comments on IGBT

• Faster than comparable BJT, Slower than a comparable

MOSFET
• On state losses smaller than MOSFET and are comparable
to BJT
• Turn on time can be effected by rate of change of vgs
• Most new designs in the industrial power electronics
market use IGBTs for medium power applications
Future Trends in Device Progress
Device Comparison
fs vs. Power
 Device Comparison
Voltage vs. Power vs. Temperature
 Wide Band-Gap Semiconductors
For Power Electronic

 Si devices limited to
operate below 200 C
 Si power devices not
suitable for very
high switching speed
(HSS)
 Si power devices not
suitable for very
high voltage (HV)
applications
Applications
fs vs. Power
Comparison of the on-resistance (Ron)
vs. Breakdown voltage
fo vs. Size of Magnetic Component & Heat Sink
Device Maximum Power