Power Switches: Dr. Affaq Qamar

USPCAS-E, UET Peshawar
Power Switches
Dr. Affaq Qamar

Contents
1. Ideal switches
2. Losses, harmonics and EMI
3. Types of switches
4. Gate drives
5. Power switches in different applications
Ideal and Practical Switches
Key elements in a power electronics converter are power

switches which operate at high voltage and/or current. They chop
DC or AC olvtage/current based on a pulse pattern generated by a
controller to achieve a desired voltage/current.
Ideal Power Switches
When we consider a power switch as an

ideal switch, that means the switch can
handle unlimited current and blocks
unlimited voltage.
The voltage drop across the switch and
leakage current through the switch are
zero.
The switch is turned on and off with no
rise and fall times.
This assumption helps us to analyze a
power circuit but for design and
practical considerations, we should
consider real power switches!
4
Practical Power Switches
In a real case, ideal switches do not

exist. During switching transients,
there are significant switching
losses associated with dv/dt and
di/dt. These phenomena depend o
several issues such as
characteristics of power switches,
control signals, gate drives, stray
parameters and operating points of
the system.
5
Practical Power Switches
Real power components have limited power, voltage and current

handling capabilities.
They also have limited switching speed due to charging and
discharging internal capacitors existing between the junctions
which limit the maximum operating frequency of then device and
create switching losses.
On-state and off-state resistance or voltage drop and leakage
current create conduction losses
Power Modules
Three major issues to design a power electronic system are losses,

harmonics and electromagnetic interferences (EMI). These issues
affect system cost, size, efficiency and quality. It is a trade-off between
these factors.
It is very important to know these issues at the early stage of the design
and select appropriate power switches.
7
Losses, Harmonics and EMI
Losses:
There are different types of losses in a power converter such as:
• Conduction and switching losses in power switches
• Losses in a controller
• Losses due to charging and discharging stray inductances in a power
converter
When a switch is turned on or off, energy is

lost during the switching transients when
operating points of the switch are changed
from on (off) to off (on) states through an
active state. This type of energy loss is called
switching loss of the power switch.
When a switch is off, normally a leakage
current through the switch is very small and
we ignore the energy loss associated with
off-state. But when the switch is on, the
energy loss depends on current through the
switch and forward voltage of the switch.
This type of energy loss is called conduction
loss of the switch.

The average power loss in a switch over one switching cycle is given by the following
equation which consists of the conduction and switching losses:
1 𝑇𝑠
𝑃ഥ𝑠 = න 𝑖 𝑣 𝑑𝑡 = 𝑃𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 + 𝑃𝑠𝑤
𝑇𝑠𝑤 0 𝑠 𝑠
Assuming that the on and off switching times are small compared to switching cycle, Tsw,
and the leakage current is negligible, Ieff = 0 . Thus the conduction loss is given by:
𝑡𝑜𝑛
𝑃𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 = 𝑉𝑜𝑛 × 𝐼𝑜𝑛 ×
𝑇𝑠𝑤
Where ton is the time when the switch is in on-state, Von is a voltage drop across the switch
and Ion is a current through the switch assuming it is constant in magnitude. We can define a
duty cycle (D) as a turn-on ratio with respect to switching cycle, Tsw.
𝑡𝑜𝑛
𝐷=
𝑇𝑠𝑤
Thus, 𝑃𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 = 𝑉𝑜𝑛 × 𝐼𝑜𝑛 × D
The switching loss should be calculated based on instantaneous

current and voltage waveforms. Normally, we approximate the
waveforms to be able to find the switching losses. High
bandwidth measurement circuits with low stray inductance are
required to measure the voltage and current waveforms
accurately which are very challenging.
𝑡1 + 𝑡𝑠𝑤_𝑜𝑛 𝑡2 + 𝑡𝑠𝑤_𝑜𝑓𝑓
1
𝑃𝑠𝑤 = න 𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑠 𝑑𝑡 + න 𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑠 𝑑𝑡
𝑇𝑠𝑤 𝑡1 𝑡2
Where, t1 and t2 are the times when gate signals are applied to
turn on and off the switch, respectively, ton and toff are turn-on and
turn-off switching times.
This equation shows that the switching loss is proportional to the

switching frequency.
1
𝑓𝑠𝑤 =
𝑇𝑠𝑤
Thus increasing the switching frequency increases the switching
losses!
𝑡1 + 𝑡𝑠𝑤_𝑜𝑛 𝑡2 + 𝑡𝑠𝑤_𝑜𝑓𝑓
𝑃𝑠𝑤 = 𝑓𝑠𝑤 න 𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑠 𝑑𝑡 + න 𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑠 𝑑𝑡
𝑡1 𝑡2

In all power electronic systems, there are stray inductances and capacitances
due to interconnections between the power components via wire, conductor
plates or any other types of conductors. In a power electronic circuit when we
turn on and off a switch, we may charge and discharge stray inductance
associated wit ha current loop as shown in the following figure. The energy
stored in the inductor depends on the current magnitude and inductance value.
Every time we turn on and off the switch, we lose energy through this inductor
which affects the total energy loss and efficiency. It may also create significant
over voltage during switching transitions due to high rate of current change.
𝑑𝑖
𝑉𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 = 𝐿𝑠 ×
𝑑𝑡
𝐿𝑠 × 𝑖 2
𝐸𝐿𝑠 =
2
Due to capacitive couplings in power converters, we may charge and

discharge these capacitors when we turn on and off a switch as shown
in the following figure. The energy stored in the capacitor depends on
the voltage magnitude and capacitive value. Every time we turn on ad
off the switch we lose energy which affects the efficiency. It may also
create significant pulse current when the switch is turned on and the
capacitor is discharged through the switch.
𝐶𝑠 × 𝑣 2
𝐸𝐶𝑠 =
2
Thus, the average power loss due to these stray components over
one switching cycle is given by:
𝐸𝐿𝑠1 +𝐸𝐿𝑠2 +⋯+𝐸𝐶𝑠1 +𝐸𝐶𝑠2 +⋯

𝑃𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑦 = = 𝑓𝑠𝑤 × 𝐸𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑦
𝑇𝑠𝑤
In a power electronic system, there are other circuits such as gate

drivers, controllers, sensors and passive filters which consume
power which is named Pother Overvoltage/Undervoltage
EMI & Line Filter

Over-temperature
Common-mode
inductor Sensor & Protection
Filter
Differential-mode Overcurrent/ Inrish Current
inductor
Varistor Snubber Circuit
Logic Device
High-side Microcontroller
A/D & D/A
Gate Drive Low-side Controller
Analog Circuit
Dead Time Control Operational Amplifier
The total losses in a power electronic system are given by:
𝑃𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 = 𝑃𝑠1 + 𝑃𝑠2 + ….. + 𝑃𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑦 + 𝑃𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟
Where Ps1 is a total loss of switch ith which consist of conduction

and switching losses.
1 𝑇𝑠
𝑃ഥ𝑠 = න 𝑖 𝑣 𝑑𝑡 = 𝑃𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 + 𝑃𝑠𝑤
𝑇𝑠𝑤 0 𝑠 𝑠
We can find an efficiency of a system based on input power and

total losses.
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑃𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 - 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝜂= = =1 −
𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝑃𝑖𝑛
Thermal Problems in a Power Converter

In a power converter, high losses increase the junction temperature of power
switches which may damage then if heat is not transferred to ambient. Thus, it
may need a heat sink to transfer heat from junction into ambient which
increases the cost, size, and weight of the power converter.
Harmonics:
In power processing, an input voltage/current is chopped based on a
pulse pattern which generates a desired out put voltage and/or current
waveform. This process generates harmonic contents on the output
waveform and/or injects high frequency current into the input voltage
source.
Switching frequency and passive filters have a significant role in
reducing the harmonic magnitude on both sides and we can classify
them as:
Load side (DC): Ripple magnitude
Load side (AC): Harmonic contents and THD
Input side (AC): THD and Power Factor
The following two output voltage waveforms show that

increasing the switching frequency decreases the output ripple
but a main drawback is more switching losses.
The following two output current waveforms show that

increasing the switching frequency decreases current harmonics
and THD but a main drawback is more switching losses.
The following two input current waveforms show that in an AC-DC

converter, the grid may be affected by input current harmonics. A
solution is to reduce current harmonics and improve power factor,
using a high frequency converter to shape the input current to a sine
wave in phase with the input voltage. This converter has more
switching losses but the advantage is to improve power quality.
EMI:
Two major sources of EMI in power electronics are dv/dt and
di/dt during switching times. Conducted Emission is a major
issue in most power electronic systems.


Power switches are the key parts of a power converter and they are classified
based on their switching speed and power handling capabilities such as
maximum blocking voltage and carrying current.
In modern power converters, achieving high efficiency is a main concern and a
key factor which saves energy (less losses) in the converters.
Achieving a high efficient converter is very challenging as we need to
compromise with other key factors such as quality and power density.
It is apparent that increasing the switching time and decreasing the switching
frequency decreases the total losses but main drawbacks are increasing EMI
noise and reducing quality of power converters due to increasing the ripple on
output voltage or current.
The main challenges are to have a good understanding of EMI issues in power
converters and layout to reduce EMI as low as possible without having extra
passive components; and in semiconductor manufacturing t o develop a new
generation of semiconductor devices to be able to operate at higher
temperatures to increase the capabilities of the converter with higher reliability.









Types of Switches
Types of Switches
It is a current control device which needs a sufficiently large base current to

turn on the transistor and the base current must be supplied continuously to
keep it in the on state. Some types of BJTs have long turn-off times which
cause large power dissipation. DC gain is around 5-10 and for high power
applications, some should be in cascade configuration.
Types of Switches
It is a controllable switch which can block negative voltage. It can handle large
voltage upto few kV and large currents up to few kA in a switching range of a
few kHz and its maximum switching speed is around 20-30 µs. The GTO can
be turned on by a short current pulse and it can be turned off by applying a
negative gate-cathode voltage. It is suitable for very high power motor drives,
tractions and reactive power control.
Types of Switches
The most important power switches in modern power converters are:
• Power Diode
• Power Metal-Oxide Field Effect Transistor (Power MOSFET)
• Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)
• SCRs have some application in very high voltage and power systems or low power AC-
AC systems
Types of Switches
Power Diodes
A diode is an uncontrolled switch which is turned on and off based on its current
and voltage. An ideal diode is turned on when the voltage across the diode is
getting positive and the current through the diode depends on circuit and load
impedance. A diode can conduct positive current and block negative which has an
i-v characteristic shown in the following diagram. A practical diode cannot block
infinite voltage or handle infinite current. Thus diodes are classified based on their
capabilities in handling power, voltage and current rates in addition to their speed
characteristics.
Types of Switches
When a diode is switched off, energy

stored between P and N sections must be
discharged in order to block the voltage
and current. The Electric Charge stored
between the P-N junction and the time to
discharge it are called Reverse-Recovery
Time, trr which affect switching speed,
losses and EMI.
The total charge can be calculated based
on the maximum reverse recovery current,
Irr and trr.
𝑄𝑟𝑟 = 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒
= 1ൗ2 × 𝐼𝑟𝑟 × 𝑡𝑟𝑟
Types of Switches
There are different types of diodes such as:

• Schottky diodes which have low forward voltage and ae very
fast. A main drawback is their capability to block high voltage.
• Fast-recovery diodes which are used in most modern power
converters operating at few kV especially in power inverters.
• Line-frequency diodes which can block high voltage up to
several kV and handle current rating of several kA but trr is
long compared to other diodes. Thus they are very suitable for
high power rectifiers operating at 50-60 Hz
Types of Switches
Thyristor or Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR)

A power switch which was very common in the past is Silicon Controlled
Rectifier (SCR) or Thyrsitor, but they still have an important role in high
power high voltage converters due to their advantages in withstanding at high
voltage and delivering high current or in low power AC-AC converters in
which a simple and cheap converter is required.
Types of Switches
How to turn on a Thyristor: a positive pulse

voltage has to be applied to a gate terminal
with respect to the cathode until the anode
current reaches a level known as a latching
current. The thyristor may turn off just after
removing the gate signal if the anode current
is less than the latching current.
Once a thyristor is in on-state, we can
remove the gate signal without changing the
switching state of the thyristor. There is a
reverse recovery time, trr and charge Qrr due
to some junctions in a thyristor similar to a
diode.
Types of Switches
How to turn off a thyristor: We have to notice that
a thyristor is not a full-controlled switch. A thyristor
can be turned off if the anode current is reduced
below a level known as the holding current, and a
relatively long time (depends on a negative voltage
magnitude across the thyristor) is needed to
discharge the PN junction s to recover its blocking
state. A forward voltage may turn it on again if the
thyristor has not completely reached its blocking
state. Turn off time is defined as minimum time
required by a thyristor to withstand forward voltage
without switching to an on-state when the anode
current is decreased to zero. To force a thyrisor to an
off-state, we need and auxiliary circuit with a
controlled switch (like another thyristor) to bypass
the current through it to reduce the current and apply
a negative voltage across the thyristor to discharge
the junctions charges.
Types of Switches
Fast transient and high voltage stress across a SCR may turn it on
at the wrong time and may damage the system.
𝐼 = 𝐶𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑦 × 𝑑𝑣Τ𝑑𝑡
Types of Switches
There are different types of thyristors such as:

• Phase-control thyristors which can handle few kA and block
few kV suitable for power system applications.
• Light-activated thyristors which can be used in high voltage
applications such as high voltage DC transmission systems in
which galvanic isolation is available through opt coupling
gate circuits.
• Low voltage and power thyristors for light intensity control
(dimmer) or AC-AC converters suitable for cheap AC motor
drives.
Types of Switches
Metal- Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET)
MOSFETs are fast switches which are turned on ad off by applying a voltage to a gate
terminal. They require a continuous gate-source voltage in order to keep them I the on state.
The switching time is very short around one hundred nanoseconds which depends on a gate
resistor.
MOSFETs are good switches for low voltage applications which require fast switching.
On-state resistance is a main concern at higher voltage ratings.
They are available in different voltage ratings from low voltages (50V) to 1000V but at high
voltage, the current rating is decreased. Normally, the maximum gate voltage is about +/-
20volts.
Types of Switches
Look at the data sheet and find the body diode characteristics and
reverse recover energy. For fast switching applications, use fast diodes
to block the body diode.
The body diode cannot handle high peak

current and is also slow which has a
significant switching loss.
Types of Switches
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)
IGBTs are fast switches with high voltage and capabilities. They are
commonly used in most of high power converters when fast switching is
required. The turn on and off process is similar to MOSFETs with high gate
impedance which requires a small amount of energy to switch the device. Turn
on speed of the IGBT can be controlled by a gate resistor IGBTs have turn-on
and turn-off times in the order of microseconds and are available in ratings of
2-3kV and 1200A with on-state voltage 2-3V. If an IGBT structure contains a
parasitic thyristor, it should not be turned on or else the gate will lost the
ability to turn off the device.
Types of Switches
When we design a power converter, it is crucial to understand directions of
power flow which define what type of switches we need to handle that power
flow.
As most of loads are resistive-inductive, thus a switch should handle
bidirectional current and sometimes they should block positive and/or negative
voltages.
For these applications, we need to combine some switches in parallel or series
in order to have a flexible switch to operate in different quadrants as shown in
this figure.
Types of Switches
Bidirectional Switch
A controlled switch like an IGBT with an anti-parallel fast diode as
shown in this figure gives a new combination named as a two-quadrant
switch which can handle bidirectional current.
This type of switch is very common in DC-AC converters.
It can block positive off-state voltage.
Types of Switches
Bipolar Switch
A controlled switch like an IGBT in series with a fast diode as shown in
this figure, gives a new combination named as a two-quadrant switch
which can handle bipolar voltage.
This type of switch is not very common but it is suitable for current
source inverters. It can block positive and negative off-state voltages.
Types of Switches
Bidirectional and Bipolar Switch

In some applications power switches should have bidirectional
and bipolar capabilities. Three different combinations shown here
can achieve this characteristic.
Gate Drive
In a power electronic converter, with at least one controlled switch, there is a need to have a
gate drive in order to turn on and/or off a power switch at a desired switching speed.
In this section, we just concentrate on three main power switches, thyristors, IGBTs and
MOSETs.
Thyristor is a switch which turned on based on a gate current while a MOSFET or IGBT
needs enough voltage to be turned on or off.
Another issue in turning on and off a power switch is a galvanic isolation which enables us
to provide enough gate voltage with respect to cathode or emitter or source.
Power switches should be protected by a gate drive circuit when over-voltages or over-
currents or over-temperatures are sensed.
Gate Drive
Opto-couplers are suited devices for
providing galvanic isolation and to drive
power IGBTs and MOSFETS used in
different power converters.
A main drawback is that the opto-couplers
require a separate power supply.
A gate drive based on a pulse transformer is a
simple and highly noise-immune topology
providing isolation. A transformer can only
transfer AC signals to the secondary and they
can be used for duty cycles between 35% and
65%.
A main drawback of this topology is the
leakage inductance of the transformer which
may affect t he gate drive performance.
Power Switches in Different Applications

Slide Credits
Slides credit to Dr. Firuz Zare, University of Queensland,

Australia.
58

Power Switches: Dr. Affaq Qamar

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Power Switches: Dr. Affaq Qamar

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Power Switches: Dr. Affaq Qamar

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

USPCAS-E, UET Peshawar

Dr. Affaq Qamar

Ideal and Practical Switches

Key elements in a power electronics converter are power

Ideal Power Switches

When we consider a power switch as an

Practical Power Switches

In a real case, ideal switches do not

Practical Power Switches

Real power components have limited power, voltage and current

Three major issues to design a power electronic system are losses,

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

When a switch is turned on or off, energy is

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

The switching loss should be calculated based on instantaneous

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

This equation shows that the switching loss is proportional to the

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Due to capacitive couplings in power converters, we may charge and

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

𝐸𝐿𝑠1 +𝐸𝐿𝑠2 +⋯+𝐸𝐶𝑠1 +𝐸𝐶𝑠2 +⋯

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

In a power electronic system, there are other circuits such as gate

EMI & Line Filter

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

The total losses in a power electronic system are given by:

𝑃𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 = 𝑃𝑠1 + 𝑃𝑠2 + ….. + 𝑃𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑦 + 𝑃𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟

Where Ps1 is a total loss of switch ith which consist of conduction

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

We can find an efficiency of a system based on input power and

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Thermal Problems in a Power Converter

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

The following two output voltage waveforms show that

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

The following two output current waveforms show that

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

The following two input current waveforms show that in an AC-DC

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

Losses, Harmonics and EMI

It is a current control device which needs a sufficiently large base current to

When a diode is switched off, energy

There are different types of diodes such as:

Thyristor or Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR)