I Electron Tubes- A vacuum tube, an electron tube, valve or tube, is a device

that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to

which an electric potential difference has been applied.
a) Thyratron- is a type of gas-filled tube used as a high-power electrical
switch and controlled rectifier.
b)Ignitron- s a type of gas-filled tube used as a controlled rectifier and
dating from the 1930s. Invented by Joseph Slepian while employed by
Westinghouse, Westinghouse was the original manufacturer and owned
trademark rights to the name "Ignitron".

II Thyristors- is a four-layered, three-junction semiconductor switching device.

It has three terminals anode, cathode, and gate. Thyristor is also a
unidirectional device like a diode, which means it flows current only in one
direction
a) Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR)- is a four-layer solidstate
current-controlling device. The name "silicon controlled rectifier" is
General Electric's trade name for a type of thyristor. SCRs are mainly
used in electronic devices that require control of high voltage and power.
b)Triac- is a three terminal electronic component that conducts current in
either direction when triggered. The term TRIAC is a genericised
trademark.

III BREAK-OVER DEVICES

a) Shockley Diode- is a four-layer semiconductor diode, which was one of
the first semiconductor devices invented. It is a PNPN diode, with
alternating layers of P-type and N-type material. It is equivalent to a
thyristor with a disconnected gate.
b) Silicon Unilateral Switch- is a device of the thyristor family and is used as
a trigger element in circuits using SCRs
c) DIAC- is a diode that conducts electrical current only after its breakover
voltage, VBO, has been reached momentarily.
d) Silicon Bilateral Switch (SBS)- is another breakover device which is
capable of triggering triacs, and it is popular in low-voltage trigger
control circuits.
e) Silicon Controlled Switch (SCS)- is essentially an SCR with an extra gate
terminal.
f) Gate Turn Off Switch- , also known as a gate-controlled switch (GCS) or
gate turn-off thyristor (GTO), is similar to an SCR but can be turned off by
a negative signal on the gate terminal.
g) Unijunction Transistor (UJT)- is another solid state three terminal device
that can be used in gate pulse, timing circuits and trigger generator
applications to switch and control either thyristors and triac's for AC
power control type applications.
h) Programmable Unijunction Transistor (PUT)-Programmable unijunction
transistor or PUT is a close relative of the thyristor family. Its has a four
layered construction just like the thyristors and have three terminals
named anode(A), cathode(K) and gate(G) again like the thyristors.