Power Transistors

• Characteristics of BJT
• Biasing BJT
• Power loss in BJT
• BJT Protection
• Transistor Ratings
• Base drive Circuits
• Snubber Circuits
Power Transistors-
V-I Characteristics
Power Transistors
Power Transistors-
Biasing BJT
 Power Transistors-
Biasing BJT (cont..)

npn transistor biasing Input Characteristics Output Characteristics

 V-I Characteristics

The Collector – Emitter Voltage VCE is given by

VCE = V – IC R

Transistor current gain or overdrive factor hFE = IC / IB

 Power Transistors-
BJT Protection

• Overcurrent Protection
• Overvoltage Protection
• Reverse Blocking Voltage Protection
Safe operating Area (SOA)
Switching Characteristics
 Power Transistors-
Power Loss
Power Loss in Base P B = V BE ( SAT ) IB
Power Loss in Collector P = V
C CE ( SAT )
I C

Power Loss in BJT in the ON state P =V

ON CE ( SAT )
I +V C BE ( SAT )
I B

Power Loss in BJT in the OFF state POFF = VCE I C ≈ VCC I LEAKAGE

V I
Energy loss in BJT during Turn - On W ( SW − ON )
= CC C (max)
t r
6
Energy loss in BJT during Turn - OFF V I
W ( SW − OFF )
= CC C (max)
t f
6
Average Power Dissipation in BJT

PT ( avg )
= {P ∗ t + P ∗ t
ON ON OFF OFF
+W ( SW − ON )
+W ( SW − OFF )
}f
Power Transistors-
Base Drive Circuits
Power Transistors-
Base Drive Circuits
 Power Transistors-
Snubber Circuits
Turn off Snubber circuit
 Power Transistors-
Snubber Circuits
Turn on Snubber circuit
 Power Darlington Pair
The collector current ICA is given by
ICA =hFE(A)IBA
The base current of main transistor is
IBM =(1+hFE(A))IBA
The Collector current ICM is given by
ICM =hFE(M)IBM =hFE(M) (1+hFE(A) )IBA

The total load current in the external

Circuit is
I=ICA +ICM =(hFE(A) +hFE(M) +hFE(A)hFE(M))IBA

Since hFE values are larger, their product will be much higher hence approximating the
above equation we get
I = hFE(A)hFE(M) IBA
Summary