Semiconductor Power

Switching Devices
Thyristor
Thyristors :-
1. The term thyristor refers to a family of power switching devices. Its different
family members are SCR, TRIAC, SCS (Silicon controlled switch), SUS (Silicon
unilateral switch), DAIC, LASCR etc.
2. A thyristor is a four-layer semiconductor device, consisting of alternating P type
and N type materials (PNPN). A thyristor usually has three electrodes: an anode, a
cathode, and a gate (control electrode).
3. It is three terminal device. (Anode, Cathode & Gate)
4. It has three junctions J1, J2 & J3.
5. The most common type of thyristor is the silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR).
6. When the cathode is negatively charged relative to the anode, no current flows until
a pulse is applied to the gate. Then the SCR begins to conduct, and continues to
conduct until the voltage between the cathode and anode is reversed or reduced
below a certain threshold value. Using this type of thyristor, large amounts of power
can be switched or controlled using a small triggering current or voltage.
7. Like the diode, the Thyristor is a unidirectional device, that is it will only conduct
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.
Working of Thyristor:-
1. Reverse Blocking Mode.
2. Forward Blocking Mode.
3. Forward Conducting Mode.

4. Reverse Blocking Mode:- in reverse blocking mode reverse supply is applied

to the thyristor i.e Anode “A” terminal is provided with –ve supply and
Cathode “K” is provided with +ve supply.

5. In reverse blocking mode we have junction J1 & J3 as reverse bias while

junction J2 is forward bias.
3. But for proper conduction through the thyristor layers we need all the three junctions
to be in forward conducting state.

4. Reverse blocking mode is not suitable for thyristor working.

Forward Blocking Mode:-
In forward blocking mode we apply forward supply applied to the thyristor i.e Anode
terminal “A” is provided with +ve supply and Cathode terminal “K” is provided –ve
supply

1. In forward blocking mode we have junction J1 & J3 as forward bias while junction
J2 is reverse bias.
2. As we know that for the proper working or proper conduction through the thyristor
layers we need all the three junctions to be in forward conducting state.
 V-I Characteristics In forward blocking mode
Forward Conduction Mode:-
1. The supply terminals are kept as same as in the forward blocking mode.
2. But we provide a gate triggering for to break the junction J2.
3. J2 was reverse bias for the forward blocking mode.
4. But when we provide the gate triggering than it breaks the junction J2 and brings it
into forward bias and thyristor starts conducting.
The two conditions that are required for the conduction of thyristor are

Anode must be +ve w.r.t cathode.

Gate should be +ve w.r.t cathode.
Static & Dynamic Characteristics of Thyristor
Static Characteristics :-
1. Thyristors are semiconductor devices that can operate only in the switching mode.
2. Thyristor are current operated devices, a small Gate current controls a larger Anode
current.
3. Conducts current only when forward biased and triggering current applied to the
Gate.
4. The thyristor acts like a rectifying diode once it is triggered “ON”.
5. Blocks current flow when reverse biased, no matter if Gate current is applied.
6. Once triggered “ON”, will be latched “ON” conducting even when a gate current is
no longer applied providing Anode current is above latching current.

Dynamic Characteristics :-
Turn-on and turn-off characteristics of an SCR are called the dynamic characteristics of
the thyristor.
a) Turn-On Character­istic :- The turn-on time charac­teristic shows the variation of
current and voltage during turn-on. Turn-on time is defined as the time after the
SCR is triggered it takes some finite time to turn on.
 
The turn on time () of the SCR is defined as the sum of delay time () and the rise time
() where delay time is the time taken by the anode current to reach 10% of its final
value from the point where gate current is at 10% of its final value. The turn-on time is
important in pulse triggering.

b)Turn off characteristics :- Turn-off means that all forward conduction

has ceased and the re-application of a positive voltage to the anode will not cause
flow of current without there being a gate signal.
The time t0 indi­cates the instant of application of reverse voltage, trr is the duration for
which the reverse recovery current flows after application of reverse voltage and t is
the time required for the recombination of all excess carriers in the inner two layers of
the device. The sum of time duration trr and time duration t gives the turn-off time t0ff,
that is t0ff = trr + tgr . At the end of turn-off time, a depletion layer gets developed across
junction J2 and now SCR is capable of withstanding forward voltage. The turn-off time
depends upon anode current, magnitude of reverse voltage and the rate of application
of forward voltage.
Turn on and turn off methods of Thyristor
Turn-on:- turning on a thyristor is called its triggering or firing. Various methods to turn
on thyristor are:
1. Temperature triggering/thermal triggering.
2. Light triggering.
3. Voltage triggering.
4. Gate triggering.

Temperature triggering :- in this technique the voltage applied between anode and
cathode of SCR is kept close to its forward breakover voltage. And when a thyristor is
to be turned on its temperature is increased a little with in a specified limit. Due to the
increase in temperature the reverse biased junction of the SCR collapse and there is a
free flow of charged carriers. This is known as thermal triggering of thyristor.
Light triggering :- light energy is used to turn on some type thyristors like Light
activated silicon-controlled switch (LASCS). If the light of certain intensity is made to
fall on special sensitive area of the device. The electron-hole pairs are generated due to
radiation and device becomes on if it is forward bias.
Voltage triggering :- when the voltage across the thyristor is increased above its break
over voltage, the device turns on due to the collapse of reverse bias junction.
Gate triggering :- It is the most widely used method for turning on the thyristors. This
is an efficient and reliable method to turn on a thyristor at specified instant of time. In
gate triggering.
Depending on the signal used the gate control triggering is classified into following
three types:
a) DC Gate Triggering.
b) AC Gate Triggering.
c) Pulse triggering.

d) DC Gate Triggering:- in this method of triggering a d.c. voltage of proper

magnitude and polarity is applied between the gate and the cathode of the thyristor
to turn on the thyristor. The gate voltage has to be +ve w.r.t. cathode.
AC Gate Triggering:-

Here AC source is used for gate signals.

This scheme provides proper isolation between power and control circuit.
Drawback of this scheme is that a separate transformer is required to step down ac
supply.
There are two methods of AC voltage triggering namely
(i) R Triggering
(ii) RC triggering
(i) Resistance triggering :- In this method, the variable resistance R is used to control
the gate current.
Depending upon the value of R, when the magnitude of the gate current reaches the
sufficient value(latching current of the device) the SCR starts to conduct.
The diode D is called as blocking diode. It prevents the gate cathode junction from
getting damaged in the negative half cycle. 
By considering that the gate circuit is purely resistive, the gate current is in phase with
the applied voltage.
By using this method we can achieve maximum firing angle up to 90°.
 Circuit for resistance triggering.
(ii) RC Triggering:- By using this method we can achieve firing angle more than 90°.
In the positive half cycle, the capacitor is charged through the variable resistance R up
to the peak value of the applied voltage.
The variable resistor R controls the charging time of the capacitor.
Depends upon the voltage across the capacitor, when sufficient amount of gate current
will flow in the circuit, the SCR starts to conduct.
In the negative half cycle, the capacitor C is charged up to the negative peak value
through the diode D2.
Diode D1 is used to prevent the reverse break down of the gate cathode junction in the
negative half cycle.
 Pulse Gate Triggering:-
In this method the gate drive consists of a single pulse appearing periodically (or) a sequence of high
frequency pulses.
This is known as carrier frequency gating.
A pulse transformer is used for isolation. 
The main advantage is that there is no need of applying continuous signals, so the gate losses are reduced.
Advantages of pulse train triggering:
Low gate dissipation at higher gate current.
Small gate isolating pulse transformer
Low dissipation in reverse biased condition is possible. So simple trigger circuits are possible in some
cases
When the first trigger pulse fails to trigger the SCR, the following pulses can succeed in latching SCR.
This important while
Triggering inductive circuits and circuits having back emf's.
Turn off methods of Thyristor
The thyristor will turn off naturally with a.c. supplies as the voltage reverses (which is
called as Natural Commutation), but no such reversal occurs with d.c. supplies and it
is necessary to force a voltage reversal if tum-off is to occur. This process is called
Forced Commutation.
Commutation:
The process of turning OFF SCR is defined as "Commutation".
In all commutation techniques, a reverse voltage is applied across the thyristor during
the turn OFF process.
By turning OFF a thyristor we bring it from forward conducting to the forward blocking
mode.
The condition to be satisfied in order to turn OFF an SCR are:
IA < IH ( Anode current must be less than holding current)
A reverse voltage is applied to SCR for sufficient time enabling it to recover its
blocking state.
There are two methods by which a thyristor can be turned OFF.
i. Natural Commutation
ii. Forced Commutation
Natural Commutation:-
In AC circuit, the current always passes through zero for every half cycle.
As the current passes through natural zero, a reverse Voltage will simultaneously appear
across the device.
This will turn OFF the device immediately.
This process is called as natural commutation, since no external circuit is required for
this purpose.
Forced Commutation:
To turn OFF a thyristor, the forward anode current should be brought to zero for
sufficient time to allow the removal of charged carriers.
In case of DC circuits the forward current should be forced to zero by means of some
external circuits.
This process is called as forced commutation.
Thyristor Protection:-
For  reliable operation of SCR, it should be operated within the specific ratings.
SCRs are very delicate devices and so they must be protected against abnormal
operating conditions. Various protection of SCR are
1. di/dt Protection
2. dv/dt Protection
3. Over voltage Protection
4. OverCurrentProtection
di/dt Protection:-
di/dt is the rate of change of current in a device.
When SCR is forward biased and is turned ON by the gate signal, the anode current
flows. The anode current requires some time to spread inside the device. (Spreading of
charge carriers)
But if the rate of rise of anode current(di/dt) is greater than the spread velocity of
charge carriers then local hot spots is created near the gate due to increased current
density. This localised heating may damage the device.
Local spot heating is avoided by ensuring that the conduction spreads to the whole
area very rapidly. (OR) The di/dt value must be maintained below a threshold
(limiting) value.
This is done by means of connecting an inductor in series with the thyristor.

The inductance L opposes the high di/dt variations.

When the current variation is high, the inductor smooths it and protects the SCR from
damage. (Though di/dt variation is high, the inductor 'L' smooths it because it takes
some time to charge). L ≥ [Vs / (di/dt)]

dv/dt Protection:-
dv/dt is the rate of charge of voltage in SCR.
We know that iC=C.dv/dt. ie, when dv/dt is high, iC is high.
This high current(iC) may turn ON SCR even when gate current is zero. This is called as
dv/dt turn ON or false turn ON of SCR.
To protect the thyristor against false turn ON or against high dv/dt a "Snubber Circuit"
SNUBBER CIRCUIT :-

The snubber Circuit is a series combination of resistor 'R' and capacitor 'C'.
They are connected across the thyristor to be protected.
The capacitor 'C' is used to limit the dv/dt across the SCR.
The resistor 'R' is used to limit high discharging current through the SCR.
When switch S is closed, the capacitor 'C' behaves as a short-circuit.
Therefore voltage across SCR is zero.
As time increases, voltage across 'C' increases at a slow rate.
Therefore dv/dt across 'C' and SCR is less than maximum dv/dt rating of the device.
The capacitor charges to full voltage Vs; after which the gate is triggered, and SCR is
turned ON and high current flows through SCR.
As di/dt is high, it may damage the SCR.To avoid this, the resistor R in series with 'C'
will limit the magnitude of di/dt.
The technique of 'snubbing' can apply to any switching circuit, not only to
thyristor/triac circuits.
The rate of rise of turn-off voltage is determined by the time constant
RLC. Where RL is the circuit minimum load resistance, for instance the cold resistance
of a heater or lamp, the winding resistance of a motor or the primary resistance of a
transformer.
Overvoltage Protection:-
Overvoltage may result in false turn ON of the device (or) damage the device.
SCR is subjected to internal and external over voltage.
Internal Overvoltage:
The reverse recovery current of the SCR decays at a very fast rate. ie, high di/dt.
So a voltage surge is produced whose magnitude is L(di/dt).
External Overvoltage:
These are caused by the interruption of current flow in the inductive circuit and also due
to lightning strokes on the lines feeding the SCR systems.
The effect of overvoltage is reduced by using Snubber circuits and Non-Linear
Resistors called Voltage Clamping Devices.
Voltage Clamping Device:
It is a non-linear resistor called as VARISTOR (VARIable resiSTOR) connected across
the SCR.
The resistance of varistor will decrease with increase in voltage.
During normal operation, varistor has high Resistance and draws only small leakage
current.
When high voltage appears, it operates in low resistance region and the surge energy is
dissipated across the resistance by producing a virtual short-circuit across the SCR.
Over Current Protection:
In an SCR due to over-current, the junction temperature exceeds the rated value and the
device gets damaged.
Over-current is interrupted by conventional fuses and circuit breakers.
The fault current must be interrupted before the SCR gets damaged and only the faulty
branches of the network should be isolated.
Circuit breaker has long tripping time.
So it is used for protecting SCR against continuous over loads (or) against surge
currents of long duration.
Fast acting current limiting fuse is used to protect SCR against large surge currents of
very short duration.
Electronic Crowbar Protection :-

SCR has high surge current ability.

SCR is used in electronic crowbar circuit for overcurrent protection of power converter.
In this protection, an additional SCR is connected across the supply which is known as
'Crowbar SCR'.
Current sensing resistor detects the value of converter current.
If it exceeds preset value, then gate trigger circuits turn ON the crowbar SCR.
So the input terminals are short-circuit by SCR and thus it bypass the converter over
current.
After some time the main fuse interrupts the fault current.
 
Thyristors are connected in series to improve their overall voltage rating. The
characteristics of thyristors of the same type are not the same, as shown in figure and
hence auxiliary components must be added to thyristors connected in series to ensure
proper operation.

String efficiency is the term used for determining the extent of utilization of SCR’s in a
string. String efficiency of SCR’s connected in series or parallel is given by
The ratio is always less than one. For highest possible string efficiency the SCRs connected in
series/parallel string must have identical V-I characteristics.
Because SCRs of same specification may vary in their characteristics.
As a result unequal voltage/current sharing is bound to occur for all SCRs hence string efficiency can not
be one.
The unequal voltage/current sharing by the SCR’s in string can be minimized to a great extent by using
external equalizing circuits.

Series operation:
when operating voltage of a system is higher than the voltage rating of
single thyristor, thyristors are connected in series.

(A) series string (B) variation in characteristics of SCRs

series connected
Figure (A) shown above shows a string of two SCR’s connected in series. In series connection the same
current flows through both the SCR’s but the voltage shared by the two SCR’s may not be the same due to
variation in their V-I characteristics.
  (B) clearly shows that has a small leakage current in forward blocking state as compared to (even if
Fig.
both are matched SCR’s). Assuming that the current is flowing in series string, the voltage across , is
clearly greater than voltage shared by the i.e. ()
Forward break over voltage is same for both SCR’s.
If it is assumed that each SCR in the string rated for the forward blocking voltage of volts which has to be
less than its forward break over voltage. So the rated blocking voltage of the full string consisting of two
SCR’s =
However it is clear from fig (B) that the maximum voltage which the two SCR can share =(+)

Static equalizing circuit: an equal voltage sharing in steady state can be obtained by
connecting different resistances across each SCR such that each parallel combination has the equal
resistance this requires different values of resistors for each SCR. But this technique is suitable only if the
number of SCR’s in string is less.
According to this method of equalization
  value of & can be calculated by values of , & . As the size of the string increases, using different
The
resistance with each thyristor become cumbersome (difficult) job and hence resistance of equal value is
connected in shunt with each thyristor causing different but fixed voltage to appear across each thyristor

In series string voltage is applied to the string and are the voltage across SCR’s and are the leakage
current of Respectively
Then the total string voltage is given by :

If I is the current flowing through the string,

 
From this equation

Or

Or

Or R=
Or

This is an approximate calculation. For calculating the value of R accurately, the maximum values of
voltage and currents should be considered. The maximum values of leakage current relate to the maximum
temperature.
Also the SCR’s can not have identical dynamic characteristics i.e. their turn on and turn off times can
never be same. This leads to unequal voltage distribution during the transient conditions of turn-on & turn
off and high frequency operation