Lecture (6)

Diode Alternating Current (DIAC)

As mentioned in the previous lectures on the basic of semiconductor

switching devices as Diode, BJT, SCR, and TRIAC; in this lecture mention a
DIAC. When it comes to switching AC waveforms, we can frequently notice the
TRIAC being used to switch current in both directions. Now, since TRIACs
cannot fire/trigger symmetrically, it is supported by a component called DIAC. A
DIAC is a two-terminal device that can act as a switch based on the voltage
applied across it.

Diode Alternating Current -DIAC

The DIAC is a bi-directional semiconductor switch that can be switched on
in both polarities. A DIAC device comprises two parallel Zener diodes are
connected back to back. The main application of the DIAC is to help in the
activation of a TRIAC when used in AC switches, and starter circuits for
fluorescent lamps.

The symbol of the DIAC as following:

Dr. Heba Mahmoud Soufi 30-11-2020

Construction and Operation of DIAC
Basically, the two-terminal device with a combination of parallel
semiconductor layers that allows activating in one direction. But the DIAC is bi-
directional, we can’t name those terminals as anode and cathode, the terminals
of DIAC are simply called and or and where MT stands for
main terminals. Hence the pin-outs/terminals of DIAC are reversible just like a
resistor, inductor, or ceramic capacitor.

The above diagram shows the typical construction of the DIAC. The DIAC
is made of a five-layered structure; the layers closer to the terminals are the
combination of both positive and negative layers, this combination of both the
polarities at the terminals helps in operating the DIAC in both directions. When
the voltage is applied to the terminals, the layer with respective polarity to the
voltage gets activated.

Dr. Heba Mahmoud Soufi 30-11-2020

 The operation of the DIAC with respect to the polarities are shown in the
above image. Consider the terminal to be positive, and then the layer
near will be activated, so the conduction will be taking place in the order of
- - - . When the current is flowing from to and the junctions
between - and - are forward biased and the junction between - is
reverse biased.

Similarly, if we consider terminal to be positive, then the layer

near will be activated and the conduction will be taking place in the order of
- - - . When the current is flowing from to and the junctions
between - and - are forward biased and the junction between - is
reverse biased.

Hence the conduction will be possible in both the directions if the applied
AC voltage goes beyond its voltage.

Characteristics of DIAC
The I-V characteristic curve of the DIAC will be in the shape of a Z and the
curve will be lying on the first and third quadrants because they conduct in both
the positive and negative polarity. The first quadrant represents the positive half
cycle where the current will be flowing from to and the third quadrant
represents the negative half cycle where the current will be flowing from to
.

Initially, for the positive or negative half-cycles, the resistance of the DIAC
will be the highest because of the reverse bias junction between the layers. So
there will be a small leakage current flowing through the DIAC, it is mentioned
as the blocking (off-state) in the curve. Once the applied voltage reaches the
breakdown voltage, the resistance of the DIAC will be drop suddenly. Then the
DIAC starts conducting which leads to a sharp decrease in voltage and the
current starts increasing, which is mentioned as the conduction/on-state in the
curve. Most of the DIACs will be having the breakdown/switching voltage around
30 Volts, the exact breakdown voltage will be based on the type of the device. The
DIAC will be in the conducting state when the current reaches the particular

Dr. Heba Mahmoud Soufi 30-11-2020

value called the holding current, where holding current is the minimum current
required for a device to keep it in the on-state.

TRIAC and DIAC Phase Control

The DIACs are mostly used within the TRIAC circuits because the TRIAC
does not fire the circuit symmetrically. Because the TRIAC requires differing
amounts of gate current in each switching mode of operation, for example, mode
(+Ι) and mode (-IIΙ), meaning that it may not trigger at the exact same point for
each half positive and negative cycle. The non-symmetrical firing will generate
unwanted harmonics in the output; where the less of the symmetrical of the
waveform, that the harmonics will be greater.

Applications of DIAC
The DIAC is used for triggering TRIAC or other kinds of SCR; apart from
this, they do not have many applications. The DIAC is used as a trigger device in
various applications such as phase control circuits of motor speed control, light
dimmers, heat controls, and many other control circuits. Let’s look into the
examples of lighting dimmer and heat control circuits.
Dr. Heba Mahmoud Soufi 30-11-2020
Lamp Dimmer Circuit:
The DIAC is used to trigger a TRIAC by the ‘’phase control’’ method via a
-phase-shift circuit as given in the following figure. This circuit is an example
of a simple lamp dimmer. The TRIAC conduction angle is adjusted by adjusting the
potentiometer- is used to control the phase shift on the gate of the TRIAC
which in turn controls the voltage applied to the load at different times during the
AC cycle.

The TRIAC triggering voltage is derived from the and combination

via the DIAC. At the start of each cycle, capacitor- charges up via the variable-
, this continues until the voltage across is sufficient to trigger the DIAC which
in turn allows discharging into the gate of the TRIAC to turning-on.

Once the TRIAC is triggered into conduction, it shorts out the gate
triggering circuit and the TRIAC takes conduction for the remainder of the half-
cycle. Then the TRIAC turns-off automatically at the end of the half-cycle, and a
-triggering process starts again on the next half-cycle. The longer the TRIAC
conducts, the brighter the lamp will be.

Dr. Heba Mahmoud Soufi 30-11-2020

Heat Control Circuit:
A typical DIAC-TRIAC circuit used for smooth control of AC power to a
heater is shown in the following figure. The capacitor- in series with choke-
across the TRIAC slows-up the voltage rise across the device during off-state. The
resistor- across the DIAC ensures smooth control at all positions of
potentiometer- . The TRIAC conduction angle is adjusted by adjusting the
potentiometer- . The longer the TRIAC conducts, the larger the output will be
from the heater. Thus a smooth control of the heat output from the heater is
obtained.

Dr. Heba Mahmoud Soufi 30-11-2020