POWER ELECTRONICS

Lecture No. 8
INSULATED GATE BIPOLAR TRANSISTORS

• When the development of power MOSFETs encountered difficulty in

increasing their current-handling capability, the idea of a MOS-controlled
bipolar device was developed to overcome the problem. This effort led to
today’s insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)

• The IGBT fundamentally changes the BJT current control into voltage
control while maintaining the advantages of the BJT
IGBT STRUCTURE
• The IGBT structure is similar to that of a planar power MOSFET
except the difference in the substrate doping type. The fabrication of
the IGBT therefore is almost the same as a power MOSFET.
• This has made its manufacture relatively easy immediately after
conception, and its ratings have grown at a rapid pace as a result of the
ability to scale up both the current and the blocking voltage ratings.
• Today, the largest single-chip IGBT can carry about 100 A and block
more than 3000 V.
IGBT: INSULATED-GATE BIPOLAR
TRANSISTOR

• Combination BJT and MOSFET

• High Input Impedance (MOSFET)
• Low On-state Conduction Losses (BJT)
• High Voltage and Current Ratings
• Symbol

4
IGBT CONSTRUCTION
 IGBT EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT FOR VGE>VT
PNP transistor turns ON,
+ VCC
RMOD decreases due to
carrier injection from the
PNP Emitter.

MOS transistor conducts,

drawing current from the
Base of the PNP transistor. NPN Transistor
becomes forward
biased at the BE,
drawing current 6
from the Base of the
PNP transistor.
COMPARISON
THYRISTORS

Thyristors are four-layer pnpn power semiconductor devices. These

devices switch between conducting and non-conducting states in
response to a control signal.

The thyristor family includes the silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR),

the DIAC, the Triac, the silicon-controlled switch (SCS), and the
gate turn-off thyristor (GTO).
SILICON-CONTROLLED RECTIFIERS (SCR)

• The SCR is the most commonly used electrical

power controller. An SCR is sometimes called a
pnpn diode because it conducts electrical current in
only one direction. Figure shows the SCR symbol.

• It has three terminals: the anode (A), the cathode

(K), and the gate (G). The anode and the cathode
are the power terminals and the gate is the control 9

terminal.
SCR WORKING PRINCIPLE

• When the SCR is forward-biased, that is, when the anode

of an SCR is made more positive with respect to the
cathode, the two outermost pn-junctions are forward-
biased. The middle pn-junction is reverse-biased and the
current cannot flow. If a small gate current is now applied,
it forward-biases the middle pn junction and allows a
much larger current to flow through the device. The SCR
stays ON even if the gate current is removed. SCR shutoff
occurs only when the anode current becomes less than a
level called the holding current (IH).
SCR V-I CHARACTERISTICS

• if the forward bias voltage

is increased to the forward
breakover voltage, VFBO,
the SCR turns ON. The
value of forward breakover
voltage is controlled by the
gate current IG.
SCR V-I CHARACTERISTICS

• When the SCR is reverse-biased, there is a

small reverse leakage current (IR). If the
reverse bias is increased until the voltage
reaches the reverse breakdown voltage
(V(BR)R), the reverse current will increase
sharply. If the current is not limited to a
safe value, the SCR may be destroyed.
• If an SCR is forward-biased and a gate
signal is applied, the device turns ON. Once
the anode current is above IH, the gate
loses control. The only way to turn OFF the
SCR is to make the anode terminal negative
with respect to the cathode or to decrease
the anode current below IH. The process of
SCR turnoff is called commutation.
SCR TURN OFF CIRCUIT

• This type of commutation method is called AC line

commutation. The load current IL flows during the
positive half cycle of the source voltage.
•
• The SCR is reverse-biased during the negative half
cycle of the source voltage. With a zero gate current,
the SCR will turn OFF if the turn-off time of the SCR
is less than the duration of the half cycle.