Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
com/igbt-basics/
Working of SCR
Fig.2
Under this condition, junction J2 is reverse biased while junction J1 and J3 are
forward biased.
Hence, the situation in the junctions J1 and J3 is just as in a npn transistor with
base open.
Consequently, no current flows through the load RL and the SCR is cut off.
Conclusion
The following conclusions are drawn from the working of SCR:
1.
An SCR has two states i.e. either it does not conduct or it conducts
heavily. There is no state inbetween. Therefore, SCR behaves like a
switch.
2.
There are two ways to turn on the SCR. The first method is to keep the
gate open and make the supply voltage equal to the breakover voltage.
The second method is to operate SCR with supply voltage less than
breakover voltage and then turn it on by means of a small voltage
applied to the gate.
3.
Applying small positive voltage to the gate is the normal way to close
an SCR because the breakover voltage is usually much greater than
supply voltage.
4.
To open the SCR e. to make it non-conducting, reduce the supply
voltage to zero.
SCR Ratings:
Under all operating conditions, the reliable operation of the SCR can be ensured
only if it is operated such that its ratings are not exceeded. Each thyristor or SCR is
manufactured to a particular current, voltage, power, temperature and switching
frequency limits within which they can operate reliably. These are called ratings, which
can be minimum or maximum values that set limits on the capability of an SCR.
Exceeding these limits even for short durations could considerably leads to malfunction
or damage the SCR. Therefore, for the benefit of users, the manufacturer gives a list of
current, voltage, power, temperature ratings, etc. These ratings are essential for the
correct application of SCR in various power electronic circuits. In practice SCRs with
ratings higher than the required working ratings are selected to allow safety margin .
These ratings can be continuous, non-repetitive or surge and repetitive ratings.
Depends on the unilateral or bilateral devices, continuous ratings are denoted in terms
of RMS or average values. Surge and repetitive ratings are corresponding to peak
values of the SCR. So let us discuss various ratings of SCR in brief. Different voltage
and current ratings are assigned with one or more subscripts for easy identification. The
first subscript indicates the state of the SCR and includes
F- Forward bias
R- Reverse bias
T- ON state
D- Forward blocking state with gate open
The second subscript indicates the operating values and those are
T- Trigger
S- Surge or Non-repetitive value
R- Repetitive value
W- Working value
The voltage capability of the SCR should not be exceeded during the operation
even for short periods. So the SCR is assigned with different voltage ratings, which are
the maximum voltages at which the SCR can function normally without breakdown of
junctions. These are assigned in both blocking states of an SCR and can withstand
against voltage transients. The various voltage ratings of an SCR are given below .
Fig
Anode voltage ratings during the blocking state
of a thyristor
value is in the range about 130 percent of V RRM. The surge voltage ratings V DSM and
VRSM can be increased by connecting a diode of equal current rating in series with the
SCR.
The above discussed voltage ratings are belonging to the forward and reverse
blocking states with which the SCR is able to withstand with gate open.
7. ON-state Voltage VT
This is the voltage drop between the anode and cathode with specified junction
temperature and ON-state forward current. Generally, this value is in the order of 1 to
1.5 Volts.
4. I2t Rating
This rating is used to determine the thermal energy absorption of the device. This
rating is required in the choice of a fuse or other protective equipments employed for the
SCR. This is the measure of the thermal energy that the SCR can absorb for a short
period of time before clearing the fault by the fuse. It is the time integral of the square of
the maximum instantaneous current. For a reliable protection of SCR by the fuse or
other protective equipment, the I2t rating of the fuse (or any other protective equipment)
must be less than the I2t rating of the SCR.
5. di/dt Rating
It is the maximum allowable rate of rise of anode to cathode current without any
damage or harm to an SCR. If the rate of rise of anode current is very rapid compared
to the spreading velocity of the charge carriers, local hot spots are created due to
concentration of carriers (on account of high current density) in the restricted area of the
junctions. This raises the junction temperature above the safe limit and hence the SCR
may be damaged. Therefore, for all SCRs the maximum allowable di/dt rating specified
in order to protect the SCR. It is specified in amperes/microseconds and typically it lies
in the range 50 to 800 ampere/microseconds.
6. Latching Current IL
It is the minimum ON state current required to maintain the SCR in ON state after
gate drive has been removed. After turning ON of the SCR, the anode current must be
allowed to build up such that the latching current is attained before the gate pulse is
removed. Otherwise the SCR will be turned OFF if the gate signal is removed.
7. Holding Current IH
This is the minimum value of the anode current below which SCR stops
conducting and turns OFF. The holding current is associated with turn OFF process and
usually it is a very small value in the range of mill amperes.
8. Gate Current IG
As the gate current is more, earlier will be the turn ON of the SCR and viceversa. However, safety limits must be provided for gate by specifying maximum and
minimum gate currents. For controlling the SCR, gate current is applied to the gate
terminal. This gate current is divided into two types; minimum gate current I Gmin and
maximum gate current IGmax. The minimum gate current IGmin is the current required by
the gate terminal to turn ON the SCR where as IGmax is the maximum current that can be
applied safely to the gate. Between these two limits the conduction angle of the SCR is
controlled.
The power dissipation in the SCR produces a temperature rise in the junction
regions. The dissipation of power in the SCR includes forward power dissipation; turn
ON and OFF losses and gate power dissipation.
A
gate non triggering voltage (Vng) is also mentioned at the time of manufacturing of the
device.
All noises and unwanted signals should lie under this voltage to avoid unwanted
turn on of the thyristor.
Curve 1 represents the lowest voltage values that must be applied to turn on the
SCR and curve 2 represents the highest values of the voltage that can safely applied.
So from the figure we can see the safety operated area of SCR is bcdefghb.
Now, from the triggering circuit,
we get, Es = Vg + IgRs
Where, Es = gate source voltage
Vg = gate cathode voltage
Ig = gate current
Rs = gate source resistance
A load line of gate source voltage is drawn as AD where OA = E s and OD = Es/Rs
which is trigger circuit short circuit current. Now, let a VI characteristic of gate circuit is
given by curve 3. The intersection point of load line (AD) and curve 3 is called as
operating point S. It is evident that S must lie between S 1 and S2 on the load line. For
decreasing the turn ON time and to avoid unwanted turn ON of the device, operating
point should be as close to Pgav as possible. Slop of AD = source resistance Rs.
Minimum amount of Rs can be determined by drawing a tangent to the P gav curve from
the point A.
2.
3.
High efficiency.
4.
Low maintenance.
5.
6.
Large control current range (say from 30 A to 100 A) with small gate current of few mA.
7.
2.
There is some voltage drop across SCR when in on-state; hence there is some wastage
of power.
3.
MOS-Controlled Thyristor(MCT):
Out of many semiconductor controlled devices, MCT is considered to be the
latest. The device is basically a thyristor with two MOSFETs built into the gate structure.
A MOSFET is used for turning ON the MCT and another one is used for turning it OFF.
The device is mostly used for switching applications and has other characteristics like
high frequency, high power, and low conduction drop and so on. An MCT combines the
feature of both conventional four layer thyristor having regenerative action and MOSgate structure. In this device, all the gate signals are applied with respect to anode,
which is kept as the reference. In a normally used SCR, cathode is kept as the
reference terminal for gate signals.
The basic structure of an MCT cell is shown in the figure below.
Turning ON Process
The device is turned ON by a negative voltage pulse at the gate with respect to the
anode. For turning ON MCT, gate is made negative with respect to anode by the voltage
pulse between gate and anode. So, MCT must be initially forward biased, and then only
a negative voltage be applied. With the application of this negative voltage pulse, ONFET gets turned ON whereas OFF-FET is already OFF. With ON-FET ON, current
begins to flow from anode A, through ON-FET and then as the base current and emitter
of n-p-n transistor and then to cathode K. This turns on n-p-n transistor. This causes the
collector current to flow in n-p-n transistor. As OFF FET is OFF, this collector current of
npn transistor acts as the base current of p-n-p transistor. Subsequently, p-n-p transistor
is also turned ON. If both the transistors are ON, regenerative action of the connection
scheme takes place and the MCT is turned ON.
Advantages of MCT
1.
2.
3.
4.
Power BJT
Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) is a three terminal, three layer, two junction
semiconductor device. Emitter(E), Base(B) and Collector(C) are the three terminals of
the device.
Symbol: The symbol of the Power BJT is same as signal level transistor.
Structure:
The construction of the Power Transistor is different from the signal transistor as shown
in the following figure. The n- layer is added in the power BJT which is known as drift
region.
VI Characteristics:
Operation
of
device
at
primary
and
secondary
Unijunction Transistor:
UJT cannot be used to amplify a signal but instead, it is used as an ON-OFF
switching transistor. UJTs have unidirectional conductivity and negative impedance
characteristics acting more like a variable voltage divider during breakdown . The
symbol, construction and equivalent circuit of UJT is shown in fig
From the equivalent circuit, the voltage across the resistor R B1 is given by
UJT can be used in gate pulse, timing circuits and trigger generator applications
to switch and control either thyristors or TRIACs for AC power control type applications.
When a voltage (Vs) is firstly applied, the unijunction transistor is OFF and the
capacitor C1 begins to charge up exponentially through resistorR3. As the Emitter of
the UJT is connected to the capacitor, when the charging voltage Vc across the
capacitor becomes greater than the diode volt drop value, the p-n junction behaves as a
normal diode and becomes forward biased triggering the UJT into conduction. The
unijunction transistor is ON. At this point the Emitter to B1 impedance collapses as the
Emitter goes into a low impedance saturated state with the flow of Emitter current
through R1 taking place.
As the ohmic value of resistor R1 is very low, the capacitor discharges rapidly
through the UJT and a fast rising voltage pulse appears across R1. Also, because the
capacitor discharges more quickly through the UJT than it does charging up through
resistor R3, the discharging time is a lot less than the charging time as the capacitor
discharges through the low resistance UJT.
When the voltage across the capacitor decreases below the holding point of the
p-n junction ( VOFF ), the UJT turns OFF and no current flows into the Emitter junction
so once again the capacitor charges up through resistor R3 and this charging and
discharging process between VON and VOFF is constantly repeated while there is a supply
voltage, Vs applied. The voltage across the R1 (which is used to trigger the SCR) is
shown in the fig
.
structure and P wells with N+ source regions. The N+ layer at the top is the source or
emitter and the P+ layer at the bottom is the drain or collector. It is also feasible to make
P-channel IGBTs and for which the doping profile in each layer will be reversed. IGBT
has a parasitic thyristor comprising the four-layer NPNP structure. Turn-on of this
thyristor is undesirable.
Some IGBTs, manufactured without the N+ buffer layer, are called non-punch
through (NPT) IGBTs whereas those with this layer are called punch-through (PT)
IGBTs. The presence of this buffer layer can significantly improve the performance of
the device if the doping level and thickness of this layer are chosen appropriately.
Despite physical similarities, the operation of an IGBT is closer to that of a power BJT
than a power MOSFET. It is due to the P+ drain layer (injecting layer) which is
responsible for the minority carrier injection into the N- -drift region and the resulting
conductivity modulation. The equivalent circuit and symbols for IGBT are shown in fig
Fig
(b) shows the transfer characteristics of IGBT which gives the relation
(b) Transfer
characteristics