Chapter 1 Power Electronic Devices

Outline
1.1 An introductory overview of power electronic devices
1.2 Uncontrolled devicepower diode

1.3 Half- controlled devicethyristor

1.4 Typical fully- controlled devices 1.5 Other new power electronic devices

1.1 An introductory overview of power electronic devices

1)

The concept and features Power electronic devices: are the electronic devices that can be directly used in the power processing circuits to convert or control electric power.
Vacuum devices: Mercury arc rectifier In broad sense Power electronic devices thyratron, etc. . seldom

in use today Semiconductor devices: major power electronic devices

Very often: Power electronic devices= Power semiconductor devices Major material used in power semiconductor devicesSilicon

Features of power electronic devices

a) The electric power that power electronic device deals with is usually much larger than that the information electronic device does. b) Usually working in switching states to reduce power losses
On-state Voltage across the device is 0 V=0 Off-state Current through the device is 0 i=0 p=vi=0 p=vi=0

c)Need to be controlled by information electronic circuits. d)Very often, drive circuits are necessary to interface between information circuits and power circuits. e)Dissipated power loss usually larger than information electronic devices special packaging and heat sink are necessary.

2) Configuration of systems using power electronic devices

Power electronic system:

Electric isolation: optical, magnetic Control circuit (in a broad sense) Control circuit detection circuit drive circuit Power circuit (power stage, main circuit)

circuit
Protection circuit is also very often used in power electronic system especially for the expensive power semiconductors.

Terminals of a power electronic device

A power electronic device usually has a third terminal control terminal to control the states of the device
G

A power electronic device must have at least two terminals to allow power circuit current flow through.

Drive Circuit

Control signal from drive circuit must be connected between the control terminal and a fixed power circuit terminal (therefore called common terminal

Major topics for each device Appearance, structure, and symbol Physics of operation Specification Special issues Devices of the same family Passive components in power electronic circuit Transformer, inductor, capacitor and resistor: these are passive components in a power electronic circuit since they can not be controlled by control signal and their characteristics are usually constant and linear. The requirements for these passive components by power electronic circuits could be very different from those by ordinary circuits.

1.2 Uncontrolled device Power diode

Appearance

PN junction

Direction of inner electric field

Region (depletion region, potential barrier region)

+ + + + +

+ + + + +

+ + + + +

+ + + + +

p region

Space charge

n region

PN junction with voltage applied in the forward direction

V +

+ +

+ + + n

W WO

PN junction with voltage applied in the reverse direction

Effective direction of electronic field

p + V + +

+ + + n

WO W

Construction of a practical power diode

Anode
+

P n + epi

Na =10 cm

19

-3

10m
14 -3

Nd =10 cm
-3

Breakdown Voltage dependent

n- substrate
Cathode

Nd =10 cm

19

-3

250m

Features different from low-power (information electronic) diodes Larger size Vertically oriented structure n drift region (p-i-n diode) Conductivity modulation Junction capacitor The positive and negative charge in the depletion region is variable with the changing of external voltage. variable with the changing of external voltage. Junction capacitor C Junction capacitor CJ .
Potential barrier capacitor CB Junction capacitor CJ Diffusion capacitor CD

Junction capacitor influences the switching characteristics of power diode.

Static characteristics of power diode

I IF

UTO UF

Turn-off transient
IF UF tF t 0 diF dt td

trr tf t1 t 2 diR dt IR
P

Turn- on transient u iF i UFP

UR

uF 2V 0 t fr t

UR
P

Examples of commercial power diodes

part number

Rated max voltage

Rated vag current

VF(typical)

tr(max)

Fast recovery rectifiers 1N3913 400V SD453N25S20PC 2500V Ultra-fast recovery rectifiers MUR815 150V MUR1560 600V RHRU100120 1200V Schottky rectifiers MBR6030L 30V 444CNQ045 45V 30CPQ150 150V

30A 400A 8A 15A 100A 60A 440A 30A

1.1V 2.2V 0.975V 1.2V 2.6V 0.48V 0.69V 1.19V

400ns 20s 35ns 6ns 60ns

1.3 Half- controlled deviceThyristor

Another name: SCRsilicon controlled rectifier Thyristor Opened the power electronics era 1956, invention, Bell Laboratories 1957, development of the 1st product, GE 1958, 1st commercialized product, GE Thyristor replaced vacuum devices in almost every power processing area.
Still in use in high power situation. Thyristor till has the highest power-handling capability.

Appearance and symbol of thyristor

Structure and equivalent circuit of thyristor

Structure A Equivalent circuit A IA P1 N1 G P2 N2 K K a) b) N1 P2 G

Equivalent PNP circuit V

1

Ic2

IG

Ic1 NPN V2 IK

Physics of thyristor operation

A IA V1 G IG S EG K Ic1 NPN V2 EA IK PNP

Equivalent circuit: A pnp transistor and an npn transistor interconnected together Positive feedback Ic2 R Trigger Can not be turned off by control signal Half-controllable

Quantitative description of thyristor operation

I c1=1 IA + I CBO1 I c2= 2 IK + I CBO2 IK=IA+I IA=Ic1+Ic2

G

1-1 1-2 1-3 1-4 ( 1-5 )

IA

IG ICBO1 ICBO2
1 (1 2 )

When IG =0, 1+2 is small. When IG >0, 1 +2 will approach 1, IA will be very large.

Other methods to trigger thyristor on High voltage across anode and cathodeavalanche breakdown High rising rate of anode voltagte du/dt too high High junction temperature Light activation Static characteristics of thyristor Blocking when reverse biased, no matter if there is gate current applied. Conducting only when forward biased and there is triggering current applied to the gate. Once triggered on, will be latched on conducting even when the gate current is no longer applied.

Switching characteristics of thyristor

i A 100% 90%

10% 0 u
AK

td

tr I RM

t rr

URRM

tgr

1.4 Typical fully- controlled devices

Features IC fabrication technology, fully- controllable, high frequency

Applications Begin to be used in large amount in 1980s GTR is obsolete and GTO is also seldom used today. IGBT and power MOSFET are the two major power semiconductor devices nowadays.

1.4.1 Gate- turn- off thyristorGTO

Major difference from conventional thyristor: The gate and cathode structures are highly interdigitated , with various types of geometric forms being used to layout the gates and cathodes.

Physics of GTO operation The basic operation of GTO is the same as that of the conventional thyristor. The principal differences lie in the modifications in the structure to achieve gate turnoff capability. Large 2 1+2 is just a little larger than the critical value 1. Short distance from gate to cathode makes it possible to drive current out of gate.

A IA V1 G IG S EG K Ic1 NPN V2 EA IK PNP Ic2 R

1.4.2 Giant TransistorGTR GTR is actually the bipolar junction transistor that can handle high voltage and large current. So GTR is also called power BJT, or just BJT.

Structures of GTR different from its information-processing counterpart

Static characteristics of GTR

Ic

Saturation region Amplifying (active) region

i b3 i b2 i b1 i b1<i b2<i b3
cut-off region O Uce

Second breakdown of GTR

Hard Quasi-saturation saturation 1 Rd c

Second breakdown

IB5 >IB4. etc.

IB5 IB4 IB3 IB2 IB1 O IB=0

BVSUS IB<0 IB=0 BVCEO BVCBO UCE
Active region Primary breakdown

1.4.3 Power metal- oxide- semiconductor field effect transistor Power MOSFET A classification
Field Effect Transistor (FET) Metal- onside-semiconductor FET (MOSFET) n channel p channel Junction FET (JFET) Static induction transistor (SIT) Power MOSFET

Basic structure

Symbol
D D

G S
N channel

G S
P channel

Physics of MOSFET operation (Off- state) p-n- junction is reverse-biased off-state voltage appears across n- region

Physics of MOSFET operation (On-state) p-n- junction is slightly reverse biased positive gate voltage induces conducting channel drain current flows through n- region an conducting channel on resistance = total resistances of nregion,conducting channel,source and drain contacts, etc.

Static characteristics of power

iD
[UGS-VGS(th)=UDS]

Ohmic

VGS5
Active

VGS4 VGS3 VGS2 VGS1 O

Cut off

VGS5> VGS4 etc.

BVDSS

UDS

VGS< VGS(th)

Switching characteristics of power MOSFET

up O iD Rs up RG uGS R D F i uGS uGSP uT O iD O td(on) tr td (off) tf

+U E RL

Turn- on transient Turn- on delay time td(on) Rise time tr

Turn- off transient Turn- off delay time td(off) Falling time tf

Examples of commercial power MOSFET

part number Rated max voltage Rated vag current

IRFZ48 IRF510 IRF540 APT105M25BN R IRF740 MTM15N40E APT5025BN APT1001RBNR 60V 100V 100V 100V 400V 400V 500V 1000V 50A 5.6A 28A 75A 10A 15A 23A 11A

Ron
0.018 0.54 0.077 0.025 0.55 0.3 0.25 1.0

Qg(typical)
110nC 8.3 nC 72 nC 171 nC 63 nC 8.3 nC 110 nC 83nC 150 nC

1.4.4 Insulated- gate bipolar transistorIGBT

Combination of MOSFET and GTR

GTR: low conduction losses (especially at larger blocking volta ges), longer switching times, current- driven MOSFET : faster switching speed, easy to drive (voltage- driven), larger conduction losses (especially for higher blocking voltages) IGBT

Features On- state losses are much smaller than those of a power MOSFET, and are comparable with those of a GTR Easy to drive similar to power MOSFET Faster than GTR, but slower than power MOSFET Structure and operation principle of IGBT Also multiple cell structure Basic structure similar to power MOSFET, except extra p region On- state: minority carriers are injected into drift region, leading to conductivity modulation compared with power MOSFET: slower switching times, lower on- resistance, useful at higher voltages (up to 1700V)

Emitter Gate G E N+ P N+ N+ P N+ J3 J2 NN+ + J1 P C Collector

Drift region Buffer layer Injecting layer

Equivalent circuit and circuit symbol of IGBT

RN VJ1 + ID - Drift region + G + resistance IDRon E

C IC C G E

Switching characteristics of IGBT

UGE 90%UGEM
10%UGEM 0 IC 90%ICM

UGEM

ICM

t td(off) tf
current tail

td(on) t r

t fi1 t fi2
10%ICM 0

UCE

UCEM

ton t fv1 t fv2 UCEon

toff

Examples of commercial IGBT

part number Rated max voltage Rated avg current VF(typical tf(typical)
Single-chip devices 600V HGTG32N60E2 1200V HGTG30N120D2 multiple-chip power modules_ 600V CM400HA-12E 1200V CM300HA-24E 32A 30A 400A 300A

2.4V 3.2V 2.7V 2.7V

0.62s 0.58s 0.3s 0.3s

8.3 nC

1.5 Other new power electronic devices

Static induction transistor SIT Static induction thyristor SITH MOS controlled thyristor MCT Integrated gate- commutated thyristor IGCT Power integrated circuit and power module 1) Static induction transistorSIT Another name: power junction field effect transistorpower JFET Features Major- carrier device Fast switching, comparable to power MOSFET Higher power- handling capability than power MOSFET Higher conduction losses than power MOSFET Normally- on device, not convenient (could be made normally- off, but with even higher on-state losses)

2) Static induction thyristorSITH other names Field controlled thyristorFCT Field controlled diode Features Minority- carrier device, a JFET structure with an additional injecting layer Power- handling capability similar to GTO Faster switching speeds than GTO Normally- on device, not convenient (could be made normally- off, but with even higher on- state losses)

3) MOS controlled thyristorMCT Essentially a GTO with integrated MOS- driven gates controlling both turn- on and turn- off that potentially will significantly simply the design of circuits using GTO. The difficulty is how to design a MCT that can be turned on and turned off equally well. Once believed as the most promising device, but still not commercialized in a large scale. The future remains uncertain. 4) Integrated gate- commutated thyristor IGCT The newest member of the power semiconductor family, introduced in 1997 by ABB Actually the close integration of GTO and the gate drive circuit with multiple MOSFETs in parallel providing the gate currents Short name: GCT Conduction drop, gate driver loss, and switching speed are superior to GTO Competing with IGBT and other new devices to replace GTO

Review of device classifications

Current- driven (current- controlled) devices: thyristor, GTO, GTR Voltage- driven (voltage- controlled) devices (Field- controlled devices):power MOSFET,IGBT, SIT, SITH, MCT, IGCT

power electronic devices

Pulse- triggered devices: thyristor, GTO power electronic devices Level- sensitive (Level- triggered) devices: GTR, power MOSFET, IGBT, SIT, SITH,MCT, IGCT
Uni- polar devices (Majority carrier devices): SBD, power MOSFET, SIT power electronic devices Bipolar devices (Minority carrier devices): ordinary power diode, thyristor, , GTO, GTR, IGCT, IGBT, SITH, MCT Composite devices: IGBT, SITH, MCT