Industrial Electronics However, unlike the junction diode which is a two layer (PN) semiconductor device,

or the commonly used bipolar transistor which is a three layer (PNP, or NPN)
ELECTRON TUBES switching device, the Thyristor is a four layer (PNPN) semiconductor device that
contains three PN junctions in series, and is represented by the symbol as shown.

Like the diode, the Thyristor is a unidirectional device, that is it will only conduct
Thyratron current in one direction only, but unlike a diode, the thyristor can be made to
operate as either an open-circuit switch or as a rectifying diode depending upon
how the thyristors gate is triggered. In other words, thyristors can operate only in
the switching mode and cannot be used for amplification.

The silicon controlled rectifier SCR, is one of several power semiconductor devices
along with Triacs (Triode AC’s), Diacs (Diode AC’s) and UJT’s (Unijunction Transistor)
that are all capable of acting like very fast solid state AC switches for controlling
large AC voltages and currents. So, for the Electronics student this makes these
- Commercially introduced around 1928 very handy solid state devices for controlling AC motors, lamps and for phase
- Type of gas filled tube triode control.
- A controlled gas rectifier
The thyristor is a three-terminal device labelled: “Anode”, “Cathode” and “Gate”
- Used as a high energy electrical switch and controlled rectifier
and consisting of three PN junctions which can be switched “ON” and “OFF” at an
- Can handle a great current
extremely fast rate, or it can be switched “ON” for variable lengths of time during
THYRISTORS half cycles to deliver a selected amount of power to a load. The operation of the
thyristor can be best explained by assuming it to be made up of two transistors
connected back-to-back as a pair of complementary regenerative switches as
shown.
Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR)
It is a multi-layer semiconductor device, hence the “silicon” part of its name. It
requires a gate signal to turn it “ON”, the “controlled” part of the name and once SCR two transistor analogy
“ON” it behaves like a rectifying diode, the “rectifier” part of the name. In fact, the
circuit symbol for the thyristor suggests that this device acts like a controlled
rectifying diode.

Thyristor Symbol
The two transistors equivalent circuit shows that the collector current of the NPN Important parameters of SCR
transistor TR2 feeds directly into the base of the PNP transistor TR1, while the
collector current of TR1 feeds into the base of TR2. These two inter-connected 1. Breakover voltage. It is the minimum forward voltage, gate being open, at which
transistors rely upon each other for conduction as each transistor gets its base- SCR starts conducting heavily i.e. turned on.
emitter current from the other’s collector-emitter current. So, until one of the 2. Peak reverse voltage (PRV). It is the maximum reverse voltage (cathode positive
transistors is given some base current nothing can happen even if an Anode-to- with respect to anode) that can be applied to an SCR without conducting in the
Cathode voltage is present. reverse direction.
3. Holding current. It is the minimum anode current, gate being open, at which
When the thyristors Anode terminal is negative with respect to the Cathode, the SCR is turned off from ON conditions.
center N-P junction is forward biased, but the two outer P-N junctions are reversed 4. Forward current rating. It is the maximum anode current that an SCR is capable
biased and it behaves very much like an ordinary diode. Therefore, a thyristor of passing without destruction.
blocks the flow of reverse current until at some high voltage level the breakdown 5. Gate trigger current. Amount of gate current necessary to trigger ON the SCR.
voltage point of the two outer junctions is exceeded and the thyristor conducts
without the application of a Gate signal.
IV Characteristics of SCR
If the Anode terminal is made positive with respect to the Cathode, the two
outer P-N junctions are now forward biased but the center N-P junction is reverse
biased. Therefore, forward current is also blocked. If a positive current is injected
into the base of the NPN transistor TR2, the resulting collector current flows in the
base of transistor TR1. This in turn causes a collector current to flow in the PNP
transistor, TR1 which increases the base current of TR2 and so on.

Very rapidly the two transistors force each other to conduct to saturation as they
are connected in a regenerative feedback loop that cannot stop. Once triggered
into conduction, the current flowing through the device between the Anode and
the Cathode is limited only by the resistance of the external circuit as the forward
resistance of the device when conducting can be very low at less than 1Ω so the
voltage drops across it and power loss is also low.

Then we can see that a thyristor blocks current in both directions of an AC supply in
its “OFF” state and can be turned “ON” and made to act like a normal rectifying
diode by the application of a positive current to the base of transistor, TR2 which
for a silicon controlled rectifier is called the “Gate” terminal.
 a. Forward characteristics. When anode is positive with respect to cathode,
the curve between V and I is called the forward characteristic. In figure
above, the point from origin to breakover voltage is the forward
characteristic of SCR at IG = 0. If the supply voltage is increased from
zero, a point is reached (point A) when the SCR starts conducting. Under
this condition, the voltage across SCR suddenly drops as shown by dotted
and most of supply voltage appears across the load resistance RL. If
proper gate current is made to flow, SCR can close at much smaller
supply voltage.
b. Reverse characteristics. When anode is negative with respect to cathode,
the curve between V and I is known as reverse characteristic. The reverse
voltage does come across SCR when it is operated with ac supply. If the 2. AC trigger circuit. An SCR can also be turned on with positive cycle of ac gate
reverse voltage is gradually increased, at first the anode current remains current. Figure (ii) shows such a circuit. During the positive half-cycle of the gate
small (i.e. leakage current) and at some reverse voltage, avalanche current, at some point IG = IGT, the device is turned on as shown in figure (i).
breakdown occurs and the SCR starts conducting heavily in the reverse
direction as shown in the figure. This maximum reverse voltage at which
SCR starts conducting heavily is known as reverse breakdown voltage.

Turning ON the SCR

In order to turn on the SCR, the gate voltage VG is increased up to a minimum value
to initiate triggering. This minimum value of gate voltage at which SCR is turned
ON is called gate triggering voltage VGT. The resulting gate current is called gate
triggering current IGT. Thus, to turn on an SCR all that we have to do is to apply
positive gate voltage equal to VGT or pass a gate current equal to IGT. For most of
the SCRs, VGT = 2 to 10 V and IGT = 100 μA to 1500 mA.
Turning OFF the SCR
1. DC gate trigger circuit. Figure below shows a typical circuit used for triggering an
SCR with a dc gate bias. When the switch is closed, the gate receives sufficient
positive voltage (= VGT) to turn the SCR on. The resistance R1 connected in the The SCR turn-off poses more problems than SCR turn-on. It is because once the
circuit provides noise suppression and improves the turn-on time. The turn-on time device is ON, the gate loses all control. There are many methods of SCR turn-off but
primarily depends upon the magnitude of the gate current. The higher the gate- only two will be discussed.
triggered current, the shorter the turn-on time.
(1) Anode current interruption. When the anode current is reduced below a
minimum value called holding current, the SCR turns off.
(2) Forced Commutation. Uses switch and battery in series and connected in
parallel to the SCR. It is a method that produces certain amount of current opposite
in direction to IA thus reducing it below IH.

Sample Problem:

An SCR has a breakover voltage of 400 V, a trigger current of 10 mA and

holding current of 10 mA. What do you infer from it? What will happen if gate
current is made 15 mA?